Losing and Looking for Love
by HarryPotterfanforeverr123
Summary: Set right after Season 3. Begins with the ending of the season finale and then goes on from there. Mostly from the point of view of Blair, Chuck, Nate, and Serena. Blair and Serena are in Paris when they find out some bad news. COMPLETE
1. The End or the Beginning?

**Spoiler Alert! This will give away a lot of stuff from the season 3 finale. So don't read this if you haven't seen the finale! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Gossip Girl show, or book series, obviously. **

**AN: Hi! This is my first Gossip Girl fan fiction. I'm already having trouble waiting for September to find out if Chuck's alive or not, so I decided to write my version of what happens after the season finale. Just so you know, I don't like Jenny or Vanessa. So I probably won't do their point of views. I might not do Dan too much either, because although I like him, I'm not sure how to write about the whole Georgina pregnancy thing. I think I'll leave that with the Gossip Girl writers. I'm a total Chair shipper, even after Chuck and Jenny (gross-but I still think it was more Jenny's fault-he told her to leave if she wanted), and everything Chuck did. I'm mad at what he did, but he's still my favorite or one of my favorite characters on the show. Anyway, I've talked way too much now, so please, just read and review! I would love some feedback. Also, if you have any comments on the season finale, say those in a review too! I would love to hear what everyone is thinking. **

_And all in an instant everything changes. We leave the past behind and speed toward the unknown; our future. We set out for far-off places and try to find ourselves. Or try to lose ourselves, exploring pleasures closer to home. _

_The problems start when we refuse to let change happen and cling to old habits._

_But if we hold on to the past too tight, the future may never come. _

'_Till Death do us part. _

_Xoxo, _

_Gossip Girl _

**Blair **

Serena and I toasted to a perfect summer. I didn't let her know how much I was hurting. It was easy to cover that up with expensive champagne and designer clothing. I missed Chuck so much. But I couldn't allow him to hurt me anymore. What he'd done, all of it, was unforgivable. I would love him forever.

But now was time for new starts. Serena and I, in Paris. I would find myself, and maybe lose Chuck if I was lucky. For now, I just wanted to forget…

**Serena **

Blair and I clinked glasses. I had a feeling of happiness yet loss inside. I missed Nate. But now just wasn't the time. I didn't go to Brown because I needed to find myself. And I still hadn't. It was why I wasn't with Nate anymore. I hoped that Paris would help. When I came back, maybe I would be ready. And maybe Nate would wait for me.

**Nate **

I wanted to forget Serena. Chuck was in Prague when I needed him most, and Serena and Blair were gone. Dan was there, but how could he help? I wasn't sure, despite my apology and his, if I wanted to trust him again. No one was there for me. But Chuck had left one thing behind-his little black book. It was a remedy that always seemed to help Chuck. Would it help me? I hoped so. I needed to forget the girl that I had loved for years. It wouldn't be easy. But maybe the two girls next to me would make up, just for a little bit, for the gaping hole that Serena had left behind.

**Chuck **

"_I thought you didn't love me anymore! I didn't care whether I lived or died, Jenny Humphrey was just-" _

"_DON'T say her name! Or anything to me, ever again,"_

Blair had interrupted. Didn't let me explain. I guess there really was no excuse for what I did. But that was what I did when I was upset-Blair knew that. She knew me better than anyone else. I wished she had understood that I loved her, not little Jenny Humphrey, or anyone else.

But it still wouldn't be enough.

I had sold her for the hotel. Stupid. The hotel had never meant as much to me as she had. I should have known she would never really forgive me.

"_Love makes everything simple,"_

she had told me. But it wasn't simple at all when she told me to never speak to her again.

I shouldn't have slept with Jenny. But there she was, right in front of me, broken like me. I couldn't resist. I was drunk. It was stupid. It was a mistake. I had given her a way out. She should have left when she had the chance. But she hadn't.

Excuses. I deserved everything I got.

"_I don't want to be alone," Jenny had told me. _

"_Me neither," I had responded. _

Was that why I was in Prague now? Because I didn't want to be alone? Was that why I was talking to hookers in the street, something about velvet? I'd already forgotten. All I remembered was that they'd scurried off like scared mice. And they should be scared of me. Blair was scared of me. They all had reason to be. Look what I'd done to everyone I loved.

I saw the guys coming towards me, but I barely thought about why. But then they were searching me, and I knew what they wanted. I was getting mugged. Oh well. What could they take? I didn't have anything left that mattered anymore.

"Hey…don't…" I said halfheartedly as they grabbed me.

"I've got lots of money…" The one thing I had. Money. But the one thing that I didn't want.

"I'm Chuck Bass…" What did that even mean anymore? What had it ever meant? I had told Blair that I wasn't Chuck Bass without her. It didn't matter anymore.

But somewhere in my drunken mind, I remembered the ring. The ring I had carried around the past week. It was Blair's. The bittersweet reminder of us. Of what could have been. They couldn't take that. Take that, I had nothing.

"Hey…hey…HEY!" I shouted now, as they reached into the pocket with the little black box with the ring inside in it.

"C'mon, c'mon…not that." I pleaded. "If you take me to a bank I'll give you the money!" It's not like they could even understand me. But I wouldn't give up. This was for Blair.

"JUST LET ME KEEP THE BOX!"

I was struggling now. As hard as I could. Not a good idea when you were being mugged. But I didn't know he had the gun.

It didn't matter in the end. I stood rigid as the shot hit me. In the stomach. People died from that. People died from getting shot, I thought. But not me. I wouldn't….my thoughts became jumbled as I was slowly falling to the ground. I would die fighting for Blair. She would never know it, but at least my last act would be for love.

It was good she would never know. I didn't want her to forgive me. I didn't deserve it.

I deserved to die alone, was my last coherent thought as I drifted off into nothingness, hoping, that finally, the pain would end.

**Brittany **

My name is Brittany. A very American name, for a girl living in Prague. But I had relatives here. Not that I lived with them, anymore. I needed to make my own living.

Which is what I was doing that morning. I was coming back from the night's…adventures, I guess you could say. Hey, a girl has to make a living.

Look at Julia Roberts in _Pretty Woman_. It worked out pretty well in the end for her. Why not for me? I would get my happily ever after, someday.

I may be a prostitute, but I'm not a bad person.

You see people on the streets being mugged, or hurt, or shot, or even killed a lot here. You just walk quickly past and hope that you're not the next victim. But…when I saw the boy on the abandoned street in the early morning light, I couldn't just leave him there. There was no one around. Whoever had done this to him was gone. They wouldn't hurt me.

I cautiously walked up to him. The last thing I wanted to do was see a dead body. But I worked this area often. I had been here early last night. There had been no body then. Now there was. So unless this boy had been injured badly enough to die in the night, I wouldn't be seeing a dead body anytime soon.

I hoped.

I saw that it was bad as I got closer. I almost didn't walk any further, but I had to. The sight of the bloody body was gruesome yet compelling. I walked closer and then kneeled down next to the victim.

He wasn't awake, that much was clear. He had a bullet wound in his stomach. Not a good place to be shot. Then again, there was no good place to be shot.

I drew my eyes away from the wound. There would be time to examine it later. I took his limp wrist in my hands and felt for a pulse.

I almost felt as if my heart stopped while I waited for the beat. It felt like hours I was waiting. But it must have only been a few seconds because all of a sudden I felt –

_Thump._

It was light and slow and frail, but there was a pulse. He was still alive! I let go of a breath I hadn't been aware I was holding. But I glanced at the wound again and flinched. He wouldn't be alive for long. How long did I have? An hour or two, at the most. Probably less. I knew there was a payphone near here. I would have to use some of my scarce money, but it would be worth it. For some reason I felt the need to help this boor boy.

I quickly ran to the payphone, taking out some of my recent pay. Hands shaking, I inserted the money and dialed the number for an emergency.

**Lily **

I knew what he had done to Jenny, but I couldn't hate Charles for the life of me. He was not only legally my son. He was my son in my heart, too, even though he wasn't my son in blood. He had taken Jenny's virginity. But I strongly suspected that she had been equally involved. He may have taken advantage of her because she was younger, but she had also taken advantage of him while he was upset over some recent drama with Blair. I had seen the gossip girl posts about Chuck and Blair over Serena's shoulder. I wanted their drama to end. I knew how much they loved each other, and I wanted Charles to be happy. But I knew why Blair was mad, at the same time.

But I couldn't be mad at him. I still loved him.

I wondered what he was doing now. I had called his suite at the hotel, and Nate had picked up. He didn't sound too good. I knew that Serena had broken up with him, even after he had forgiven her for her "family reunion". I loved Serena, but sometimes I just couldn't understand her.

I had asked for Charles, but Nate told me that he'd gone away to Prague. Probably trying to make himself feel better. He always disappeared when things were at their worst.

But the best thing about things being at their worst is that they can only get better. I hoped Charles knew that.

I hoped he was okay.

**Chuck **

I thought I heard sirens. Who was hurt? I didn't seem to be able to open my eyes, or move any part of my body.

But I felt the pain. It was terrible, raw pain. There were voices all around. Speaking frantic words I couldn't understand. Where was I?

Then I felt the other pain hit me. The one almost stronger than the physical pain. But I could barely remember what it was about. I heard a shot ringing in my ears…I saw a girl with curly saying something to me…yelling…I saw a ring in a black box…they had taken the ring…

I was trying to catch the stray images and thoughts floating around in my head and make sense of them, but I couldn't. I was groggy and disoriented, and soon I couldn't remember anything at all.


	2. At the Hospital

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Gossip Girl**_**. **

**Chapter 2 **

_Chuck MIA? _

_No one has seen C this past week. He was last sighted in Prague. _

_Looks like he's disappeared. Again. But this time I have a feeling he's not buying macaroons and stockings for B. _

_Send any sightings to me. _

_You know you love me. _

_Xoxo, _

_Gossip Girl _

**Doctor Hemingway **

Mr. Bass was not in good shape when he arrived at my hospital. He had been brought to a hospital in Prague early this morning, and then transferred to my hospital in France this afternoon for better care. Immediately most of the staff at the hospital recognized him, though he had no ID with him. He was Chuck Bass, famous boy billionaire. We didn't really like to show favoritism to any of our patients, but Chuck Bass was special. He was rich and famous. We may be blamed if he died. We had to take care of him before any of our other patients.

We would have to perform surgery soon to remove the bullet. We didn't know if he would live. We were the best hospital in France, but we couldn't do magic, not even for Chuck Bass. We'd just have to try our best.

**Nate **

I was on the phone is Serena. I couldn't help it-I may be upset with her, but I couldn't bear not talking to her. The drinks and girls hadn't filled the hole. They had just made me feel disgusted with myself. I couldn't do it anymore.

"Still no word from Chuck?" I asked.

"None," Serena sighed.

It had been a little over a week since he'd left. He should have been sighted somewhere else by now. It should have been on Gossip Girl, which I was now checking every few minutes. He should have been home right now. We should have heard from him by now.

It had only been yesterday that we'd really started to worry. That's when I had given in and called Serena. Now we talked a few times a day.

"He hasn't answered any of my calls," Serena whispered.

"Me neither. No texts, either. Why are you whispering?"

"Blair's in the other room," Serena explained in a whisper. "She'll get mad if she hears me talking about Chuck. And worried if she finds out why we're talking about him. She's been so happy this summer so far…"

I understood. Blair had been through a lot. She didn't want to have to be reminded of Chuck all the time. But… "Maybe you should tell her," I suggested. "She should know that Chuck's missing. She'd want to know that."

"I don't know…" Serena responded nervously.

There was silence, and I knew that we were both worrying about Chuck. He had done some pretty bad stuff to Blair, but Serena and I still cared about him. I guessed that Blair probably did too.

"What if he's hurt?" Serena said quietly. "Lying all alone is a street somewhere…with no one to help him…"

"Don't say that," I said quickly; I had already pictured the image in my mind far too much.

"But what if it's true?" Serena said, sounding on the verge of tears. "What if he dies alone, thinking no one cares about him? What if he's already dead?"

"What if he's fine? What if we're worrying for nothing?" I countered.

"Nate. He usually calls or texts you when he's away. And if for some reason he didn't he definitely would at least answer our calls and texts. There has to be some reason that he's not answering our calls."

"Yeah…but it may not be the reason we think."

"What other reason would it be?"

"I don't know, Serena." I sighed. "I just don't want to think that Chuck could be…hurt." I had almost said dead. But I didn't want to scare Serena.

"Me neither." Serena said. "Well, keep me updated, okay?"

"Alright." I agreed.

"Bye, Nate."

"Bye, Serena."

I hung up the phone, not quite sure what to feel.

**Serena **

It had been weird talking to Nate lately. It was a little awkward. But we were both worried about Chuck. And I couldn't worry with Blair-she would not be happy if I brought up Chuck.

Poor B. Chuck had hurt her. But while I felt bad for Blair, I couldn't hate Chuck. He was my brother. Sort of.

I glanced at the clock. It was almost 8. Robert's shift ended then. Robert was a doctor I had met the other night and was now dating. He was my Nate rebound, I guess you could say. Blair called him Rebound Robert.

Blair knew I was leaving soon.

"Bye, B!" I called as I left.

I met Robert in the hospital halls. I was only allowed to be there since I was with him. I listened to him talk about his day. It wasn't very interesting until I heard the name-

"….Chuck Bass. You, know the Bass industries billionaire? Anyway, once people find out he's here, we'll get a ton of publicity. It'll be great. Well, let's just hope he lives long enough to bring us the publicity…"

"Wait, Chuck Bass?"

"Yeah, you heard of him?"

"Of course I have! Show me where he's staying!"

"Umm, well, he's not really supposed to have any visitors right now…"

"Why? What happened to him?"

"He's in the critical condition wing."

"I'm his sister! They'll let me in!"

"You're his _sister_? I didn't know that…"

"Well, I am. Just take me to see him."

"Okay, but Serena, there's something you should know…"

"What is it?"

"He's dying, Serena."

My hands trembled as I pressed 4 on the caller ID (1 was voicemail, 2 was my mom, 3 was Eric, 4 was Blair, 5 was Nate, 6 was Chuck, and 7 was Blair). I didn't know what to say to her. I was in the hospital waiting room. I was about to be admitted to see Chuck, even though the doctors had warned me that I wouldn't like what I saw. That just made me more worried, and made me want to see him more.

"Hello?" she picked up on the last ring. I could hear the happiness in her voice. She had been so happy lately…I didn't want to ruin that…

But I had to.

"Blair?"

"Yeah?" she laughed. "Who else would it be? You called me."

"Blair…Chuck's here. At the hospital where I went to meet Robert."

Her voice turned suddenly angry.

"Chuck's there? Let me guess, with peonies in hand? He just thinks he can follow us into Paris and waltz back in to my life. He thinks I'll just forgive him, just like that. How many times do I have to say it before he understands? I told him never to speak to me again. I really don't know how to say it any clearer."

"B, I need you to come to the hospital."

"No," she said stubbornly. 'I'm not going. I'm done with Chuck. He's caused me too much pain."

"Well, he's about to cause you some more," I said softly. "I'm sorry, B, but I need you to be here. Chuck needs you to be here. Because…because he's not here to see you. He didn't follow us to Paris."

"Then who is he here to see?" Blair demanded.

"Blair, he's not a visitor…he's a patient."

"A…a patient?" Blair's voice now carried a hint of concern. But then it was gone. "It doesn't matter. He doesn't need me. He'll be fine. He probably just drank too much or something, and just needs a little recovery…"

"But that's the thing, B. He won't be fine. Because…" My voice broke.

"What is it?" Blair asked urgently.

"Because he didn't just fall and scrape his knee. And he didn't just drink a little too much. This is serious. He's in the critical care wing. He's dying, Blair." I said. My voice was now just above a whisper. "Right now we both need you to be here."

There was silence on the other end for a long time. I thought for a moment that Blair had hung up. But I the quiet sound of her shaky breathing on the other end and knew she was still there.

"Hold on," she said. "I'm coming."

She hung up.

"Serena Van Der Woodsen?" a nurse, who had just walked into the waiting room, called. "You can see your brother now."

I took a deep breath, and, shaking, followed the woman into the hallway to see Chuck, scared of what I would find.

**Blair**

I grabbed the first coat I saw and quickly slipped on shoes, rushing out of the room. I ran to the elevator and pressed the down button around 10 times.

"Not enough time," I muttered and rushed to the stairs, flying down them until I was in the lobby, then running out of the door. I knew the hospital where Rebound Robert worked was right down the street. I ran, suddenly realizing that I was wearing Serena's coat and her highest heels.

I kicked off the shoes-they were hard to run in, so I held them as I ran. I entered the hospital lobby and to a receptionist.

"Where's the visitor waiting room?" I asked, breathless.

The receptionist looked up, uninterested, unaware that my life was falling apart at that very moment. She jerked her head towards a door to her right and I rushed in.

Serena wasn't in there. I ran up to the receptionist there.

"I'm here to see Chuck Bass," I said. I hoped he spoke English.

"I'm sorry, but we can only let in family members right now. Are you a family member of Mr. Bass?" he asked, eyeing me critically.

"Umm…" I said. Should I lie?

Suddenly Serena burst through the doors, looking a million years older than the last time I had seen, and much more tired. Her eyes were red.

"Blair," she said, breaking down in my arms. "They don't know if he'll live, he hasn't woken up yet…He just transferred from Prague this morning. They think it may be too late."

I tried so hard to be strong for Serena, but I wanted to cry too.

"I have to see him," I told her.

"Blair…I don't know if you want to…"

"I want to," I said firmly. But the receptionist was still eyeing me suspiciously. Serena saw this.

"Oh, she's with me," she said, pulling herself together, and led me into the hallway. The receptionist didn't object. Who would argue with Serena Van Der Woodsen?

I followed her down the hall. When she got to Chuck's room, the door was closed.

"Are you sure you want to see him?" Serena asked me one last time.

"I'm sure," I answered.

Serena opened the door.

**Nate **

Serena had called me maybe half an hour ago.

I was already in the Bass Industries Jet with Lily and Eric, who the hospital in France had contacted just before Serena had called me. I had called Lily to tell her about Chuck, only to find that she already knew and was about to leave. She had offered to take me, so here I was.

We sat in silence, both worrying about Chuck. None of us could find words to express what we were feeling.

It was a long flight. I knew that. It took a lot of hours to get there. But it felt more like days. I just wanted to be there already. I couldn't stand not knowing if Chuck was okay.

Serena hadn't said much on the phone. Just that Chuck was in a hospital in France. I had no idea if he was okay or not. But Serena had sounded worried.

In the little time that Lily and I had spoken to each other, she had told me that Chuck had been shot. I knew that Chuck was really upset right now. I worried that he'd done it to himself.

I worried so much about Chuck. He was my best friend, like a brother. I wouldn't be able to bear it if anything happened to him.

**Blair**

He was lying there, the same Chuck Bass as always.

But yet he wasn't the same. He was ghostly pale.

I walked calmly up to Chuck without Serena's help. I examined him. He had a large bandage wrapped around his stomach. He was attached to multiple IVs, and a machine that beeped every time his heart would beat. The slow _beep, beep_ of the machine was strangely comforting. Then I saw his face.

He didn't look cocky and confident now-he looked so vulnerable, and innocent.

It was crazy to think that Chuck Bass could ever be innocent.

I used to love watching him sleep. Because that's the way he looked when he slept-innocent. Vulnerable. Like a small child. So sweet, and gentle. It was a way for me to see the sweet and innocent side of Chuck that he barely ever revealed to me when awake. I loved it.

But I wasn't loving it now.

Then I broke down. I couldn't control it anymore, I couldn't hold it in. I just sat on the floor, crying, until Serena came up behind me. She didn't tell me to get up, she didn't even say anything, she just sat there with me, her arm around my shoulders, sniffling a little.

I had wanted to be strong for Serena. But now I needed her to be strong for me.

I didn't stop crying until the door opened.

**AN: Okay, so I won't pretend to know anything about getting shot, or hospitals, or anything. And I didn't really think it would add much to the story to do research. So…if something s a little off in any of the chapters, I'm sorry. Do you guys think I should make this a short story or a long one? Please review! **

**Okay, so now my thoughts on the season finale-if you don't care or haven't watched it, don't read on. So I liked it, it was okay. I did not see the Georgina pregnant thing coming, although I know a lot of people did. I had read somewhere that Chuck was going to get shot, but it didn't make it any easier to watch. I almost cried! Chuck and Blair are my favorite characters on the show. I wish Dorota had just waited a little longer, and then Blair would have made it to the Empire State Building on time! But it's not Dorota's fault. Anyway, onto Jenny now. I liked her in season one and season two, and even though she was terrible this season, I still liked her, because I thought the girl she used to be was still there somewhere. But in the season three finale, she crossed a line. Yes, Chuck should not have done what he did. But he was drunk. Jenny wasn't. When she came in looking for Nate and saw he wasn't there, why didn't she leave? And after she talked to Chuck, she was like "I guess I'll go now," and Chuck didn't say anything which is basically saying "Okay," and so then she had to go and say "Not that I have anywhere to go to"! She could go to Lily's, she could go to the loft! She knew what would happen! Then she tried to act like she understood what Chuck was going through when all the problems in her life are her own fault and she doesn't understand what he's going through at all! Then they kissed, which is gross enough, (Chenny? Really?) but then she had to stay! He even told her she should leave. And she didn't! Then later on after she left she told Dan and Eric and made them feel all bad for her even though it was her fault! Dan should have punched her too! Chuck literally told her to go if she wasn't ready. She was acted like Chuck took advantage of her when she took advantage of him when he was really upset and drunk! Grr I hate Jenny! I won't deny that Chuck shouldn't have done what he did, but I think that the blame should not be placed solely on him. I do think that how he sold Blair to his uncle was totally messed up though. But then again, he's had a tough life and doesn't always understand when he crosses a line. The Chair reunion was bittersweet-I liked it even though it was a bit cheesy, but I knew it wouldn't last. Then they had to go and shoot Chuck! I'm not happy about that. He better not die! Also, I don't like how Nate is now like the Chuck, with the hookers and stuff. Nate's supposed to be the good guy. Anyway, that's my rant! Oh, and… **

**Thanks to: **

**chairobsesser, ronan03, and Gennyxoxo for reviewing! **

**hockeyrocks1323, chairobsesser, Linwe Ferland, .Whitlock. ronan03, Gennyxoxo, and illusion100 for story alert! **

**Chairobsesser, Little miss pixie-Alice Cullen, tatz11, dianecp, RoseFlower, JP20, GGfanforlife, and tsukimonse for favoriting the story! **

**And thanks for anyone who read it! **


	3. Keep Fighting

**Chapter 3 **

_Spotted: B and S rushing into a hospital in Paris, followed by N, E, and Mama van der Woodsen. _

_Looks like a party. Wonder who's the guest of honor? _

_Xoxo, _

_Gossip _

**Nate**

Thank god I'd come with Lily-they wouldn't have let me in otherwise. The receptionist looked angry when we told him we were here to see Chuck Bass.

"There are more of you? Let me guess, you're all his sisters too?" So Serena was in his room already. Was Blair with her?

"No, I'm his mother, actually." Lily said coldly. She didn't add that she was just his adoptive mother. Did it really matter anyway? She was the only parental figure Chuck had.

"I really don't see why you want to visit him," he said angrily. "It's not like he's going to talk to you. He's not awake."

We ignored him. A doctor took us down the hall to see Chuck.

"Well, here we are," the doctor said, opening the door. We all walked in. "Mrs. Bass, may I have a word with you about Mr. Bass's injuries?"

"It's actually Mrs. Humphrey now," Lily insisted, but followed the doctor to the corner of the room where they talked in low voices so that none of us could hear.

I saw that Serena and Blair were just sitting on the floor. Blair looked up when we entered and I saw that there were tears running down her cheeks.

"Nate," she said, and jumped up to hug me. "Nate, I'm so scared…what if he dies…and the last thing I will have said to him will have been to never speak to me again…"

"He's not going to die," I told her firmly, and she let go of me. "He's not," I said again. Though I wasn't sure if I believed it myself.

I then saw that Serena had gotten up. We looked at each other for a moment. We had been talking on the phone lately, but it was weird to see each other in person now, after everything.

"Nate," she said in greeting.

"Serena," I said back, nodding.

Blair sat down again, this time in a chair next to Chuck's bed instead of on the floor. Serena went to stand next to her, and Eric went to talk to Serena. I sat down on the opposite side of Chuck's bed, and then, finally, I forced myself to look at him.

He wasn't awake, of course. I'd already known that he wouldn't be.

He was paler than I'd ever seen him. I guess that's what happens when you get shot.

I'd been afraid earlier that he'd tried to take his own life. Now that barely mattered anymore. But Chuck had so recently lost everything. How could he know that everyone who loved him was here, willing him to survive? I wasn't as scared that he had done this to himself-I was scared, now that it was done, that he wouldn't be able to find it in him to keep fighting.

**Lily**

The doctor led me over to a corner.

"Mrs. Humphrey," he started in a low voice so that no one else could hear.

That wasn't good. That meant that he didn't want to scare everyone else. Which meant that what he was about to say was scary.

"Mr. Bass was brought here earlier today from a hospital in Prague. He was only there for a very short amount of time. He was brought there by an ambulance. He was found by some girl on the street, who called the hospital. According to her, she found him in an area that has a history of violence and muggers. It was near a club."

That sounded like Charles. Of course he would be near a club, after what had happened. I loved him, but he really did have a lot of bad habits.

"Of course, if may not have been a random act of violence or a mugging. It may have been intentional. But he didn't have a wallet on him, so we're guessing that it was stolen, which makes it seem like a random act of violence. He could have been targeted because many people know how much money he has. The girl found him in an alleyway with no one nearby early this morning. We don't know how long he was there, but we suspect it had been most of the night.

"There's a bullet in his stomach. I'm pretty sure that we already told you that on the phone. We've done some quick ex-rays, and it doesn't seem to have done too much damage so far. Our concerns are mostly the blood loss, which is a lot, and the surgery. The bullet's really in there, and it will be almost impossible to get out without a high risk of damaging an organ. I'm sorry, Mrs. Humphrey, but you may need to get Mr. Bass' affairs in order. You may need to take over his business. You'll have to look for a will, too-he's only 19, but a lot of people who have a lot money like to make wills early just in case."

"So he's…he's going to die?"

"It all depends on this surgery, Mrs. Humphrey. He had about a 40% chance. I just don't want you to get your hopes up."

I stood there, in shock. So it was really true. He could die. It was even more likely that he would die than survive.

"Mr. Bass is in a temporary coma-well, we hope it's temporary. They say that sometimes people can hear in comas. He had a much higher percent of surviving if he fights harder. Try talking to him."

I gave a shaky sigh. "Alright," I said. "I'll try."

"Okay."

I started to walk away, holding back tears.

"Oh, and Mrs. Humphrey?" the doctor called after me. I turned around.

"I'm sorry."

**Chuck**

Everything was in a haze. All of my thoughts and memories were there; it was just like there was a fog over them. But, slowly, piece by piece, I started to remember.

Blair.

Nathaniel.

Serena.

Lily.

Eric.

Slowly their faces swam into view. I fought to remember more.

Eric. We were related, somehow. We hadn't always been. But we were now. We were close. I used to give him advice.

Lily. My adoptive mother. My father's last wife. Before he died. Serena and Eric's mother.

Serena. My sister, sort of. But I wasn't on great terms with her at the moment. She had hurt my best friend, and I had hurt hers.

My best friend? Nathaniel. We lived together, right? In a hotel…in my hotel…my hotel that I had lost…but I'd gotten it back, because of…

Because of Blair. And suddenly it all hit me, shocking me, like a tidal wave. I loved her. So much. I wished that we were together right now. She was the most important person in my life-

But she hated me. I had sold her for my hotel. I had slept with little Jenny Humphrey. And I hadn't told her.

All of a sudden, I hated myself. How could I have done that to someone I loved so much?

I had run away. Like a coward. Like I always did. Like I always was. I was in Europe…Prague…when it had happened.

Two guys had tried to take the ring…I shouldn't of struggled, I should have known what would happen if I did, but I had to…then they had shot me.

What had my last thought been? That I deserved to die alone. And I did.

Suddenly I thought I heard a voice. Wait, where was I? I couldn't see anything. Or move.

"Chuck."

It was Nathaniel.

"Lily said that the doctor told her that sometimes people can hear when they're in a coma. I don't know if you can hear, but…"

I can hear you! I tried to shout. But I couldn't.

"…but we're going to try to talk to you."

Nathaniel was probably the one who was least mad at me at the moment. But he was still mad. What did he mean by "we're"? There was more? Hadn't he said Lily was there? Why would they be there? They hated me. I didn't deserve all this.

"Keep fighting, Chuck," Serena's voice said. "Don't stop. We need you to get through this."

Serena was there?

"We all love you, Chuck. Keep fighting." Serena still.

"They're going to do the surgery soon. To take the bullet out. They're really good surgeons here. You're in good hands." Nate now.

"But they can't do anything if you give up," he added. "Keep fighting. Please. For all of us."

"I'm not mad at you, Charles." It was Lily now. "What you did was wrong, but I wish you had stayed in New York. I still care about you. Why did you have to run away again?"

I wish I hadn't. But then again I deserved this, didn't I?

"Blair?" I heard quietly. Serena again. "Do you want to say anything?"

She wasn't talking to me but I could still hear her. My heart soared. Blair was there?

I waited. But all I heard was a sob in response.

I cringed internally, knowing that I was causing her more pain.

But she was upset-she cared. What did it matter now, that I couldn't get up and comfort her? When I knew that I didn't deserve this?

Blair deserved better. I didn't want her to suffer because of me, which is why she needed me out of her life. So she could move on. If I lived…well, she would be linked to me forever. There would be no escape. If I died…then, only then, would she have an actual chance of being happy.

If I lived I would just hurt her again.

It was only then that I realized how much effort it took to just be thinking all this. To be listening. To be a little awake. I wanted nothing more than to drift off then. Would I die if I did? If this what Nate meant by fighting?

If I fought enough, would I wake up?

Did I want to fight anymore?

It would be so much easier to stop fighting.

So much easier for me. So much easier for everyone else. They would be much better off, without me.

I didn't want to leave them, this room full of those who cared about me.

But even though they cared about me now, they didn't need me. They shouldn't need me.

I let go.

**Blair**

The machine seemed almost to be beeping harder when we talked to him. Well, when everyone else talked to him. It seemed almost at a normal pace now. I wanted to say something, but what would I say? I love you? I hate you? I'm still furious with you? All of them were true.

I tried to say something, anything, but all that came out was a sob.

Then, soon after that, it became eerily silent in the room. The machine's steady beeping, which I had been taking so much comfort from, just stopped. At first I thought it was just my imagination. But then I exchanged a glance with everyone else, and we all knew that it had stopped.

I gasped. "Somebody help!" I screamed.

Suddenly the room was filled with doctors and nurses and we were all pushed aside and I had no idea what was happening.

Finally I caught the arm of the doctor that had been talking to Lily earlier.

"What's going on?" I shouted, above all of the noise.

He looked frantic, worried. He tried to get away but I held him in a death grip.

"No more waiting," he said. "Mr. Bass' heart just stopped for a moment. We got it going again, but now he's on complete artificial life. Medicine and machines are the only things keeping him alive now, instead of the natural beating of his heart. We're going to have to do the surgery now."

We all moved out of the way at Chuck was moved to a different room. We were quickly ushered to the waiting room.

"Well what are we supposed to do now?" I demanded. Being angry was easier than being sad, or worried. Not that I wasn't still both of those things.

"Wait," Nate sighed, collapsing into a nearby chair.

We all sat down around him. It was going to be a long night.

**AN: I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! I don't really have much to say, but I feel like I should add an author's note. I'm done with the next chapter after this, so I'll most likely post it tomorrow afternoon. **

**Thanks to… **

**Reviewing: ronan03, Emerald Kitten, sam, and Akinatsuji **

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**Favorite Story: Tinili, Emerald Kitten, goup, omgsweetx3, Akinatsuji, and ale2786**

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**Please review! **


	4. Lost and Found

**Chapter 4 **

_Lost and Found! _

_After disappearing, C was finally found again-and you'll never guess where… _

_In Paris! But no, he's not there to win back B… _

_He's in the hospital there. Still looking for details as to what happened, but it looks like it's pretty serious. _

_You know you love me. _

_Xoxo, _

_Gossip Girl _

**Chuck**

Why was I still alive? I was awake again. Or, sort of awake, anyway. I tried to drift away again, but it didn't work this time. I tried to wake up for real, now. I opened my eyes and sat up. I was fine. Nothing hurt. No head rush when I sat up. Nothing. I got out of the hospital bed and looked at my surroundings. I was in an all white space. There was no one there. I couldn't even see a ground, but as I put my feet down I hit one.

I had no complications walking. I then realized I was in a suit. And I had no bullet in my stomach. Strange. I was weirdly clear-headed. Suddenly I heard a voice.

"I told you not to let go, man," Nathaniel said. "Why didn't you listen to me?"

I turned around. There he was, standing right there, in a flannel shirt and jeans.

"I'm sorry…" I said, confused.

"Sorry's not gonna cut it. We're all so worried. Blair especially. You should have seen her when I first came into your room. She was crying harder than I've ever seen her cry."

"Blair shouldn't cry. She'll be much better off without me."

"No, she won't be better off."

"I'm not having this argument with you. Where am I, anyway?"

"Nowhere."

"What do you mean?"

"You're on a lot of drugs right now, man. It's all in your head,"

"When will I wake up? Why couldn't I let go?"

"You'll see soon enough. Just don't let go," was all he said. He started to fade away.

"No!" I called after him. "Don't go!"

But I was calling to thin air-he was gone.

**Serena **

I was pacing around the waiting room. It's what I had been doing for the last hour.

"I can't stand not knowing if he's okay!" I burst out suddenly.

"Yeah, what even happened in there?" Eric asked.

"I dunno. This machine just…went silent."

"So his heart stopped?" Blair asked in a small voice. It was the first time she had talked in a while.

"I don't know," was all I could say. I wished I could comfort her, but I couldn't lie.

"It must've. I know it did. Right after we were talking to him…" she sniffed. "So I called for help. I hope that it's not too late…"

No one said anything.

"How long will the surgery take? Why did they even delay the surgery?" Nate asked.

None of us knew the answer. But then Lily coughed, and we all looked at her.

"Well, I did ask the doctor at one point," she admitted. "They wanted to see if they could get some of the…harmful things he had taken out of his system first."

"Drugs and alcohol," Blair said. It wasn't a question.

We all knew she was right so no one said anything.

Lily got up. "I'm going to go talk to the doctors again. It shouldn't be much longer now…"

She left, making the room feel strangely empty without the only real adult we had with us.

"I hate him!" Blair suddenly said angrily. We all looked at her in shock. "First he does all of these terrible things to me, then he goes off and gets himself shot!"

"B, he didn't get shot on purpose…" I reasoned with her. Now it was Nate's turn to awkwardly cough. "What?" I said.

"Well…" Nate hesitated. "It's nothing."

"What is it?" I demanded.

"Later, Serena," he said, and I knew that he wouldn't tell me then. Whatever it was, he didn't want to say it in front of everyone else.

I sighed and went back to pacing.

When would this all end?

**Nate **

I wanted to confide in Serena my worries about Chuck's destructive habits, and how they may have led to his death. About how he may have done this to himself.

But not in front of Blair.

The tension and nerves in the room were running high. There were a few other people there, but we didn't talk to them. They each had their own lives, their own story of why there were here with us, and we had ours. I didn't want them to interfere with our stories, so I wouldn't interfere with theirs.

I needed to get out of here.

"Serena, will you come get a coke from the vending machine with me?"

When she looked hesitant to leave I added "We'll be back in five minutes. Chuck's surgery won't be done yet."

She got up to follow me out into the hall and to the elevator.

"Okay, so, what did you mean before after I said getting shot wasn't Chuck's fault?" she said, turning to me.

"How did you know I was going to talk to you about that?" I asked, bewildered.

"Nate," she responded exasperatedly. "I've known you since we were born. The others may not have actually listened to what you said to me just now, but I did, and I know that you don't even like coke."

"Oh," I responded. I tried not to look too happy that she remembered these things about me.

"So, what is it?" she asked, impatient.

"Serena…what if it is Chuck's fault he got shot?"

"What do you mean?"

"He pretty much just lost everything. We're all mad at him. Blair, probably the person he loves most in the world, hates him. He's made about a million mistakes. I know that he's not happy with himself."

"So…what are you suggesting?" Suddenly her eyes widened. "You don't think…?"

"Maybe," I said. "I mean, I hope not, but…"

"No. He wouldn't." Serena said quickly, shaking his head. "We may be mad at him, but he knows that we still love him."

I shrugged. "Maybe not."

"He wouldn't do that," Serena said firmly. "Now, I know you don't want a coke, and this conversation is now over. So let's go back. I don't want to miss Chuck waking up."

She pressed the "up" button.

I didn't add that Chuck may never wake up.

**Lily **

I looked everywhere, but I couldn't find any doctors I recognized. I asked a few if they knew how Charles was done with his surgery, but some of them didn't speak much English, and the rest either didn't know the answer or didn't even know who Charles was.

Feeling defeated, I headed back to the waiting room bearing no new information. I felt the need to help Charles somehow. I felt so useless that all I could do was just stand there. And wait.

And wait some more.

And then some more.

Back in the waiting room, it was almost completely silent. Our party didn't talk much anymore. We just worried now. And we waited.

It felt like a lifetime later when the doctor who had spoken to me before came into the room. He walked over to me and seemed to want to speak to me alone. But there was no way I would be able to then deliver the news, whatever it was, to the others, so I shook my head.

"Whatever you want to say to me you can say to all of us," I said.

There were a few nods in agreement. But Blair just sat completely still, like a statue, gripping the edges of her seat.

He cleared his throat. I wished that he would just get on with it.

"Mrs. Humphrey, and…" he gestured to all of us "and co., Mr. Bass is not-"

Suddenly a nurse ran out of the hall and grabbed the doctor's arm, panting.

"There's a problem in Room 31A," she said. "Come quick!"

The doctor followed her at a fast pace.

"Wait!" Blair shrieked. "Mr. Bass is not what? MR. BASS IS NOT WHAT?" she ran to the door but Nate grabbed her.

"He'll be back," he told her. But she struggled anyway.

While they struggled, I thought.

Mr. Bass is not going to make it? Mr. Bass is not going to be okay?

Or Mr. Bass is not going to die?

What was he saying?

I guess it was time to wait some more.

**Nate **

Blair was struggling with a strength I didn't know she had. She managed to broke free, bursting through the door to the hall. I ran after her, the others following me. I got to Blair just outside of the room Chuck had been in before, about to go in. Alive or dead, awake or not, he would be here now.

Serena grabbed Blair now to prevent her from going in.

"Not yet!" she shouted. "We have to-wait for the-doctor!" she said, struggling to keep Blair back.

But Blair wasn't listening.

"I'll go in first!" I told Serena. "We won't be able to stop her much longer. I'll see if…" If Chuck's dead or not. But I didn't say that. "I'll see if it's safe to let her in."

Serena nodded quickly as Blair struggled harder than ever.

I opened the door and closed it quickly.

But there I was introduced to a new horror.

**Chuck **

I wasn't sure if I was awake or not.

But then, what else was new?

It was hard to see. There was just so much light. And the walls were all light.

I realized I was lying down soon and I tried to get up, but found that there was something holding me down.

A few somethings.

I looked at them, blinking in the light.

What were they?

I pulled and they were gone.

I felt a few stinging sensations, but ignored them.

I had a lot of pains at the moment.

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed. I stood up, but my legs didn't support me and I fell back. I tried again, this time ready. I wobbled a little but if I held the bed I could support myself. I examined the bed and saw that it was a hospital bed.

What a weird dream.

This couldn't be real. Because when I had heard the others talking, I knew that was real. And if Nate and Lily and Serena and Eric and Blair were here to see me, they wouldn't leave my side. I knew they wouldn't.

So this must not be real.

I wobbled over to the other side of the bed to practice walking. What was the point of this dream?

Suddenly a terrible pain sliced through my stomach, burning and stinging. I doubled over and waited for it to pass, breathing heavily. When it ended I stood up shakily. Then I realized-

People always asked you to pinch them to see if they're dreaming. In TV shows and movies. If you were, you weren't supposed to feel anything. You couldn't feel things in a dream.

But I had felt that pain, raw and real and terrible.

I wasn't dreaming.

But then where were the doctors and nurses?

Where was Serena and Nate?

Eric and Lily?

Blair?

I had been foolish to hope. To even think for a second that any of them cared about me after all that I'd done.

I was a monster. I knew it, and now they did too.

They didn't care that I was hurt, that I had been shot.

And I knew that they knew-the doctors would have told Lily, who would have told Serena and Eric, who would have told Blair and Nate, if Lily hadn't already told them.

Not even the doctors cared about me, about whether I lived or died. They weren't there.

And at that moment, I knew that I didn't care either.

I didn't care about myself, about whether I lived or died. Without her, without all of them…I was nothing.

I didn't want to live without Blair. I didn't want to live without any of them. I didn't want to live with money as my only friend.

I didn't want to live at all anymore.

There was a window next to me. It was no rooftop, maybe, but I didn't think I'd be able to make it to the roof without anyone seeing me.

Or make it there even without anyone seeing me.

I was weak. I would just open the window, and lean out…and then it would be all over. The pain, the hurt, the lies, the overabundance of money…all of it.

I stumbled over to the window, and, fingers fumbling, opened it.

It took a lot of strength, but I did it. I leaned against the windowpane for a moment to catch my breath. Then I looked down.

It was a long way down. Perfect for what I was about to do.

I doubled over again as a new pain waved over me. It was longer this time, and worse. I would pass out again soon. I had to do this now. It was now or never. It was time. No, it was way past the time when I should have done this. I should have done this before I had messed up more people's lives. I should have done this on the rooftop after my father died.

But Blair had been there then to stop me. And I couldn't resist.

But she wasn't here now. She didn't care. She was probably still in Paris with Serena. I had read on Gossip Girl that she had been going to Paris with Serena.

I wondered if I was still in Prague now.

No more delaying.

I leaned forward.

"Chuck?" I heard it. Ignored it. Leaned further. I had to do it now.

"Chuck!" the voice shouted now.

But suddenly I recognized the voice.

"Nathaniel!" I said, spinning around. But no sound came out. Just a wheeze. A cough. A new pain.

I had already leaned too far. I stumbled back.

**AN: Okay, so I'm really sorry I ended it this way! You all probably hate me right now. Sorry! I feel like I've been ending all of my chapters on a bad/sad note. Once again, I'm sorry! I feel like the beginning of this chapter was weird, but I felt like I should add something like that. And I had to add that Nate was wearing a flannel shirt, like in the season finale…haha. I only have the beginning of the next chapter written, but I'll try to finish it and post it on Monday. No promises though! Oh, and I'm sorry I haven't responded to any reviews yet-I only just figured out how to and my email deletes old emails so I can't respond to a lot of the reviewers from probably the first, second, and maybe third chapter! When I get the chance I'll try to answer some reviews. And of course, thanks to… **

**Reviewing: .Whitlock., ana-12, ronan03, Cblover1995, and LoveHateHero, **

**Story Alert: ChuckBassLoverx, Cblover1995, El Neneo, crd-crd, and .reality**

**Favorite Author: Caslover **

**Favorite Story: ana-12, Erica514, and .reality**

**Thank you guys so much! I love getting reviews, even if they're only one word long! (I like long reviews even better though ****) **

**If you reviewed or anything and your name isn't on here, it's probably because I just checked my email, but by the time I post this you may have reviewed or something. Sorry! **


	5. Free Falling

**Chapter 5-Free Falling **

_This just in! _

_C was mugged and shot! But don't worry-he's going to be fine. _

_Everyone's there. Well, everyone's there except D and co. I think it's a little too early for them. But maybe Little J will feel bad enough for all the trouble she caused C to show up. _

_Wonder if I should make an appearance too?_

_You know you love me. _

_Xoxo, _

_Gossip Girl _

**Chuck **

I was falling.

It was almost like it was in slow motion. I couldn't get back in. I had been leaning too far.

Nathaniel was here. Did that mean there were others?

If there were, did I still want to die?

I knew the answer. No, I didn't. But was it still the best thing to do?

Maybe.

But someone grabbed me before it was too late.

Nathaniel pulled me back.

"What the hell are you doing?" He asked angrily.

I wanted to answer. Lie. Come up with some lame excuse.

But I couldn't talk.

"Water," I croaked. Then the pain was there again. I bent over, almost falling down.

Nathaniel seemed to suddenly remember that I was hurt. He quickly grabbed me and helped me back into the bed.

I collapsed down onto it.

There was a water pitcher and cups nearby, and Nathaniel quickly poured me some and handed it to me.

"What were you doing?" he asked again, voice controlled, calm, and level, but I could feel the anger and sadness in them. He knew very well what I was doing. What he was really asking was why.

He sat down in a chair next to my hospital bed.

I didn't take the water. I didn't want to have to talk. But I couldn't just not say anything. I was saved, split seconds later, by the door swinging violently open.

"LET ME SEE HIM!" A maddened Blair shouted, looked crazed, hair flying. A defeated and worried looking Serena stood behind her, trying to grab her.

There was a split second where Nate turned around, I looked at Blair, and she just stared.

She stood completely still, mouth open in surprise.

Then she ran to me, throwing her arms around me, completely pushing Nate out of the way, kissing me full on the mouth.

I couldn't worry, couldn't think anymore as she was finally here again, with her lips on mine, and everything was perfect and I wasn't hurt and it was like I had never left and nothing had ever happened…

But, like all good things, it didn't last.

She drew away, looking surprised with herself. Then she started hitting every part of me she could reach.

"You stupid-evil little-I can't believe you-Why did you just have to-God, I hate you-Just leave me alone-"

Nathaniel looked too in shock to stop her.

"Blair!" he finally scolded.

"You just-you left-after everything…" Now she was crying into her hands.

"Blair…" Nathaniel said again, but this time in comfort.

I was angry for a moment. It was my job to comfort her when she was sad. But then again, this time she was sad because of me.

Why couldn't I just have fallen out the window?

But then I wouldn't have had that moment…the moment with Blair where everything was okay again.

Suddenly I saw more people entering the room. Serena, Eric, and Lily all filed in. They were all here. They did care about me.

Maybe it was good I hadn't fallen out the window. Maybe it was a sign.

"Chuck, you're okay!" Serena exclaimed, rushing over to me.

"Charles!" Lily breathed in relief, following her daughter with Eric.

I looked at Nate. Was he going to tell them all what I'd been about to do? But he was silent. He did give me a pointed look, though, that said quite plainly "We're not done talking about this."

Serena went to Blair to comfort her. _What happened?_ She mouthed to Nate. He just shrugged.

"Chuck," Eric said now. "We were all so worried…what happened to you?"

"Can you talk?" Serena asked nervously. "Are you okay? We're kind of not supposed to be in here yet…"

"Charles!" Lily suddenly exclaimed. "The IV cords!"

Of course. That's what I had torn out when I woke up.

"Can we get a doctor in here?" she shouted.

"Lily," I tried to say, forgetting how dry my throat was. I took the water from Nate and tried again. But it wasn't Lily's name that came out.

"Blair," I said.

"Blair," I said it again.

She looked up slowly, tears still running down her cheeks.

"Blair," I repeated. It was almost a whisper.

The pain again.

I didn't have much strength anymore.

I drifted away.

**Blair **

I could see that he was in pain. His eyes slowly closed and then he was asleep.

He had been saying my name.

At Lily's command, a doctor rushed in, and Lily immediately started chastising him for not being there.

"I'm sorry!" he said. "But all the doctors have been busy, there's been a crash, and one of our patients has to be rushed to surgery, and we have to help the other patients…"

"Well while you were 'doing more important things', we find Charles in here with the IVs torn out of him!"

"The IVs…" he said, looking confused. Then he spotted the severed cords and looked at us.

"Did one of you do this?" he asked angrily. "You're not even supposed to be in here yet!"

"No, one of us didn't do this! They were like this when we came!" Lily yelled.

"Well, who do you suppose did it then?" the doctor asked.

"I think Chuck did it," Nate piped up then. "He was awake a moment ago," he clarified for the doctor.

"What even happened before I came in?" I shot at Nate now, narrowing my eyes. Chuck had been okay-well, not okay, but he hadn't been dead. Why hadn't Nate come to get me right away?

Nate avoided eye contact. "I just came in, and Chuck was awake. That's all."

"Why do you think Mr. Bass took these out himself?" the doctor asked Nate.

"Well, when I came in he was out of his bed-"

"Oh, so now he was out of his bed when you came in? If you're going to lie, at least get your story straight!" I said angrily.

"I'm not lying-"

"Nate, I've known you since we were born. The others may not have actually listened to what you said just now, but I did, and I know when you're lying."

Nate and Serena exchanged a surprised look then Nate laughed.

"What?" I snarled at him.

"It's just…you sounded a lot like Serena," he said, still laughing.

I just gave him a blank look.

"I'm sorry…it just feels so good to be laughing again." He said, solemn now. There was something he was not telling me. I knew it. I gave him a suspicious look before turning to the doctor.

"So he's going to be okay?" I asked. "When will he wake up again?"

The doctor almost smiled now. "Mr. Bass will live to a ripe old age, we hope. It depends on his recovery, though. The surgery went well but there's still the chance of infection. We're not sure, but he may suffer from stomach pains for the rest of his life or walk differently for a while. But we're hopeful that he'll make a full recovery. We'll just have to wait and see. We hope that when M. Bass wakes up again he will be able to tell us what happened to him, and maybe tell the police as well. But now, we have to reattach the IV cords…"

I just watched Chuck's peaceful face as more doctors and nurses came in. I didn't even notice that everyone else was at the door until Serena cleared her throat.

"B? We're going to get some coffee. You coming?"

I shook my head no. "I'm just going to stay here," I told her.

They left. I was left alone. There were many doctors and nurses in the room bustling about, but we were all that mattered, to me the only two people in the room.

Chuck and I.

**Serena **

I fell into step beside Nate.

"Do you think Chuck's okay?" I asked him.

"The doctor said he is." He responded.

"No, the doctor said that he hopes that he will be," I snapped. Then I sighed. "Nate, I'm sorry, it's just that it's been a tough night…"

"I know."

We walked in silence for a little longer, into the lobby.

"Nate?"

"Yeah?"

"You saw what happened in there, right? With Blair and Chuck?"

"Mm-hmm."

"What was that? It all happened so fast."

Nate smiled. "Well, Blair pretty much attacked Chuck, in more ways than one."

I raised my eyebrows.

"First, she kissed him. Second, she started hitting him. Third, she started crying. I think she scared Chuck."

"Scared him? He was probably loving it. At least, the first part."

"I don't know, he looked pretty surprised to me."

"Nate…Blair said in there that you were lying. What really happened in there before Blair came in?"

"Serena…"

"Was he really out of bed when you came in? What, was he walking around or something? He looked pretty weak to me when I came in. And he just got shot. How was he walking?"

"Well, he was bending over and couldn't really walk without support from the bed or…or the window. He looked like he was in a lot of pain"

"Then why was he walking? Wait…the window?"

"Well, the window was open. He almost fell out when I came in."

"Who left the window open? That was just a stupid choice! That makes it so easy for patients to fall out of it by accident, like Chuck!"

"Serena, that's not all, he didn't just fall-"

"What are you two talking about so secretively?" Lily asked, walking next to us now.

"Mom-" I said.

"Nothing," Nate said quickly, looking relieved that our conversation was interrupted for some reason.

My mom looked at me.

"Nothing," I confirmed, sighing, as we got in line to get our coffee in the hospital cafeteria.

**Chuck **

It must have been hours until I woke up again. I slowly opened my eyes and looked to the side of me.

Blair was sitting in the chair next to my bed, asleep.

She looked so calm. So very unlike the last time I'd seen her.

I felt a weight and warmth in my hand. I realized then that my Blair was holding my hand.

We'd fallen asleep like that. It wasn't the first time.

But it meant so much more now.

I didn't want to disturb her, so I sat up as quietly and slowly as possible.

There was a nurse in the room, reading a book. I bet she was just there to keep an eye on me.

"Hey," a voice said, and I saw Nate come in. He was alone, which was a little strange. I quickly let go of Blair's hand.

"We need to talk." Nate said.

"Okay," I replied.

Nate gave the nurse a pointed look.

"Alone," he said.

She didn't move.

"Can you just leave for a second?" he asked. "It will be really quick, I promise."

She looked up from her book, giving him a cold look, and left to go stand outside.

Nate came over to sit on the chair next to my bed, the one to the opposite side of the one Blair was occupying. He didn't say anything at first, he just looked at me with sadness in his eyes.

"Why did you do it?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb, Chuck. I came in and you were leaning out the window."

I looked nervously at Blair, but she was still fast asleep.

"I wanted some fresh air."

"So you pulled the IVs out of your arm, walked over to the window even though you'd just finished with surgery and were in a lot of pain, then used all of your strength to open the window?"

"Well-"

"Then you leaned out so that you were halfway out the window, when you're on the top floor of the building? Buildings may not be that high in Paris, but it was high enough. And you knew that."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that you tried to fall out the window. You tried to kill yourself, and it wasn't the first time this week-"

"No I-wait, what do you mean it wasn't the first time this week?"

"Okay, now this is just ridiculous-I know that you shot yourself."

"Nathaniel, why would I do that?"

"Well you made it pretty clear today that you're perfectly capable of attempted suicide!"

"Yes, but-"

"So you're admitting it?"

"No-I mean-" I sputtered, angry at that smug but pitying look on Nate's face.

"I was right! I knew it, and Serena didn't believe me, but-"

"Nathaniel, I didn't shoot myself!" I shouted. "I may have been trying to fall out the window today, but it's not my fault I'm in the hospital in the first place!"

"Why should I believe that?"

"Because it's the truth!" I yelled.

I lowered my voice and began to explain.

**Blair**

"Because it's the truth!" I heard. My eyes snapped open. I started to change my position and ask what was going on, but then I saw that Nate and Chuck were talking about something in hushed voices, and neither of them had realized that I was awake. This was a great advantage that could be used against them. I didn't know what they were talking about, but they had been fighting, and I wanted to know why. So I closed my eyes and stayed very still.

"I left for Prague after Blair broke it off-" I heard Chuck say.

"I know that," Nate interrupted.

"Yes, but it's important to the story. I left for Prague, for a little Blair relief, I guess. I don't really remember much of the trip, to be honest. I do know why I left-you all hated me, and I pretty much hated myself. But I never planned on shooting myself,…"

Shooting himself? What was he talking about?

"…I just wanted to forget everything that had happened, everything that I had lost. A few nights into my trip, I was heading home from a club, and two guys came up to me. They wanted my wallet, and anything valuable I had."

"So they shot you? They shouldn't have...unless you fought back. But you know better than to fight back when you're getting mugged, Chuck."

"I'm getting there. I let them take my wallet and my watch, and then they started searching my coat. It wasn't really a big deal until I remembered the ring, and that's when I started struggling, because there was no way I was letting them take it-" Chuck paused as if realizing he'd said too much.

"The ring? What ring?" Nate asked.

"Blair's ring," Chuck admitted. "That night at the hospital, when Dorota had her baby, Blair and I had just gotten back together, and I was going to propose…"

There was silence for a moment.

"Propose?" Nate asked. "Like, ask her to marry you?"

"Yeah."

"That's pretty serious."

"I know. I just…I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I want to marry her. I love her."

Is it wrong that those words still made my heart beat faster?

"And I wanted to prove to her that I was serious, that I was committed. I wanted to prove that I could and would make up for everything that I'd done wrong."

Wow.

"Wow."

"Yeah. Well, Dan punched me just as I was asking her. I don't even think she realized what I was asking."

I hadn't. But now, looking back on it, I realized it should have been obvious. Had I really been that oblivious?

"Then it all happened so fast…moments later, I'd lost everything."

"And I deserved it," he added. "I shouldn't have sold Blair to Jack. And I shouldn't have slept with Jenny."

"Yeah, you shouldn't have," Nate said a little angrily. "But…I think getting shot is punishment enough. I mean, you don't deserve to die…"

Chuck was silent.

"Chuck," Nate told him firmly. "You don't. No matter what happens, we all still want you alive and well."

Chuck was still silent.

"So what happened next?" Nate prompted.

"They found the ring and tried to take it. So I fought against them. I tried to explain that I could get money for them at a bank, but of course they didn't speak English. And why would they trust me anyway? So I asked-well, I shouted-for them to let me keep the box with the ring in it. I was struggling too hard so-they shot me."

My eyes were wide open now. It's not like they were paying any attention to me.

"And then?"

"Well, what happens when you get shot, Nathaniel? You pass out."

"Did you get the ring?"

"No. They took it. I didn't really see much of what happened next, because I fell, but I think they ran. I tried to keep fighting to get the ring, but…well, it's kind of hard to fight when there's a bullet in your stomach."

"Is that why you stopped fighting earlier?" Nate said quietly.

"What?"

"We told you to keep fighting. Didn't you hear us? Then your heart stopped."

There was silence.

"Nathaniel-"

"Blair!" Nate said suddenly. "You're awake!"

Oh crap. He'd seen that my eyes were open.

"Oh. Yeah! I must've dozed off earlier, I just woke up…"

I hoped that they wouldn't notice my obvious lie.

"Did you hear anything?" Nate said carefully.

I lowered my gaze. "No," I lied. "What were you talking about?"

"Nothing," Nate quickly said.

I didn't look up. I knew Chuck was right next to me, but listening to him talk to Nate and actually talking to him myself were two very different things. I didn't know what to say.

"So," Nate said a little awkwardly. "I should leave now. So you guys can…talk."

He left.

"Blair…" I loved the sound of my name when he said it. I drew my eyes away from my hands in my lap to his face.

"Chuck."

"I'm sorry."

"For what? There's about a million things you could be apologizing for." I said harshly.

"For everything. For all of it. I know what I did was wrong. I wish I could take it back, but I can't. All I can do is try to make it up to you."

"And if I don't want you to? If I just want you to leave me alone?"

I could see how my words stung.

"Then…then that's what I'll do."

"I'm not going to forgive you just because you got shot."

"I didn't ask you to."

"But you got shot."

"Not on purpose. Believe me, Blair, I don't want to cause you any more pain."

"It's too late for that. You've caused me too much."

"Then why are you here?" He didn't mean it in a rude way, I could tell. He was honestly curious.

"Because I…" I realized then that I didn't know the answer. Why _was_ I there? Because I loved him? But I also hated him. Wouldn't they cancel each other out? I guess not.

"I don't know," I finished lamely.

"I think you do. I could have died."

"I know."

"And you seemed pretty happy that I was alive earlier."

Ugh. I knew he would bring that up sometime.

"Chuck…" I started. "That was a…"

"A what? A mistake? A fluke? You kissed me. And I know that you could feel it."

"Feel what?"

"That we belong together, Blair."

"Maybe, but-"

"But I've made too many mistakes."

I nodded. "I'm sorry, Chuck, I just…I can't do this anymore."

Why was it so hard to say those words?

I stood.

"I want you to know that I'm not mad at you, Chuck." I told him. "Like Nate said, I think getting shot was punishment enough."

"You heard that? I thought you just woke up at the end."

Oops.

"I woke up right as you said something. Shouted it. Something about the truth. Then I pretended to be asleep and listened to the two of you talk about you getting shot."

"So…you heard about the ring?"

I nodded. I started to leave. But just as I reached the door, I looked back.

"Just so you know, I would have said yes."

Turning around before I could change my mind or see his reaction, I opened the door and left.

**AN: I wrote a nice and long chapter to make up for ending the last one with such a cliffhanger! This chapter was depressing in a different way than the others, I know, but just keep in mind that it's Chuck and Blair and they belong together. I know it and so do they. So…you'll just have to wait and see what happens next! Oh and I realized yesterday that Chuck doesn't always call Nate Nathaniel, which is nice because it's kind of annoying to keep writing Nathaniel in Chuck's POVs. When he's talking about Nate to Blair near the end of the second season in a limo to go see Georgina he calls Nate Nate. I'm guessing that he calls Nate Nathaniel to when talking to him but Nate when referring to him with others. So that's probably what I'll do. If I remember. I haven't started the next chapter yet, so I'm not sure when I'll be able to post it. It may not be until Friday or around then. We'll see. **

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	6. I Still Love Him

**Chapter 6 **

_No happy reunion? _

_I thought for sure C and B would get back together now. I guess not. But there might be another couple that is… _

_Spotted: N, S, and E all heading to S and B's hotel room. Sounds like a fun night! _

_You know you love me. _

_Xoxo, _

_Gossip Girl _

**Serena **

"Are you okay?" I asked quietly, sitting next to Blair, who was sitting in a chair in the waiting room, hugging her knees.

"I don't know."

"Did you talk to Chuck?"

"Yeah."

"Is that why you're upset?"

"I'm not upset."

"Fine…is that why you're not sure if you're upset?"

"It's just, I want so badly to trust him again!" Blair said. "But I can't. He could hurt me again in an instant. It's not healthy to be with him."

"I think-"

"I mean, it wouldn't be right to get back together with him right? It's too dangerous. He's made too many mistakes. He's proved himself to be a terrible person. He's shown me the true him. And I could never love that person. I can't be with him. He's hurt me too many times."

"Blair-"

"He's a terrible boyfriend, and he would make a terrible husband and father. He's mean, he's a womanizer, a manipulator…no one I would have pictured myself being with when I was younger…"

"Blair!" I was finally able to cut in. "Who are you trying to convince, me or you?"

I could see that my comment hit head on.

"I-that's ridiculous-you, of course-"

I raised my eyebrows.

"Fine!" Blair said loudly. "Fine, I'll admit, I still love Chuck. Even after everything."

"B, Chuck's no saint. I'm still mad at him for what he did to you."

"But?"

"But I know that he loves you. And you love him. Sometimes people who love each other have to forgive each other."

"I thought you were all for me moving on?"

"I think it's pretty clear that you're having trouble moving on. And anyway, that was before Chuck got shot. I've changed my mind since then."

"But see, that's just it." Blair said. "Do we forgive him just because of that? He didn't mean to get shot. It's not like he felt he deserved it. He didn't do it. It was just chance."

"Maybe it wasn't. Do you believe in karma?"

"Sometimes, but even Chuck doesn't deserve to be shot."

"Maybe not, but don't you think that he's had enough punishment for what he's done? I saw you earlier, Blair. You were in pieces because you were afraid that you would never have Chuck in your life again. Well if you let him go, that may still be true, and it will make you feel the same way it did when you thought he'd died." I reasoned. "Lost. You love him. Maybe that's enough to take him back. You don't have to forgive him. You don't even have to be his girlfriend. Just don't push him out of your life."

"But I've already forgiven him," Blair told me.

"You have?" I asked, surprised. That wasn't like Blair at all. I didn't say why, but Blair could hear the unspoken word anyway.

"Yes. Because the night we got back together….he was going to propose. And he got shot trying to protect the ring, which he still had with him a week later."

"Chuck told you this?" I wouldn't put it past Chuck to lie to get Blair back. But I wanted to believe that it was true. I guess that's what comes from being a romantic.

"No. I overheard Chuck and Nate talking."

It was probably true then.

"That's so romantic!" I gushed.

"Yeah," Blair shrugged.

"You don't think it's romantic?"

"Well it is, but it doesn't make up for everything he's done."

"It helps, though. Right?"

Blair smiled a small smile now. "A little."

**Chuck **

We were back to where we were after I sold her to Jack.

She couldn't accept what I'd done and the person I was.

Would she ever be able to?

Would I be able to go on without her?

Would I ever love anyone again, after her?

Now that I had Nate, Serena, Lily, and Eric back, was that enough?

Blair said that she'd forgiven me. I didn't really agree with her. She wouldn't have forgiven me if I hadn't gotten shot.

But if she'd forgiven me, then why weren't we together?

I had screwed up. It's true. I didn't think I deserved her anymore.

But that didn't stop me from wanting to be with her, or loving her.

I heard the door open and shut, but I didn't look to see who it was coming in. I knew it wouldn't be Blair.

"Charles." It was Lily.

"How are you feeling?"

Like crap. But I didn't say that.

"Alright, considering…everything." I sat up.

"You've been through an ordeal."

Was she talking about everything with Blair, or what happened in Prague?

"Yeah," I agreed. Either way, it was true.

"We need to talk about where you're going to live. You can't stay here." Lily said. "You'll be able to be transferred to a hospital in New York if you want. Or…or you can move back in with us, and a doctor will check in daily."

"With you, Serena, Eric, and Rufus? I don't think that's a good idea."

"I just don't like to think that you'll have to spend the next month in a hospital full of strangers. We all won't be able to be by your side the whole time."

"I could just move back into the hotel."

Lily bit her lip. "I don't really want you being alone."

My heart sank. She knew. Nate had never been that great at keeping secrets.

"Nate told you."

She looked confused. "Told me what?"

So she didn't know.

"Why don't you want me being alone?" I asked now. I didn't know the answer, if she didn't know about the window thing.

"You won't be able to recover properly. And if something happens to you, there will be no one to help you."

"I live with Nate," I reminded her.

"He's not always there to watch out for you. And he shouldn't have to be. Anyway, he's just one person."

"I'll be fine."

"Why won't you come live with us?"

"Oh yeah, me and Rufus with occasional visits from Jenny? We'd just be one happy family," I said sarcastically.

Lily hesitated. "Well, then you'll just have to move hospitals to New York so that we can visit you."

"I think I'll just live at the hotel."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Well I do. And it's my opinion that matters, isn't it? I'm an adult. I can make my own decisions."

I was offending her now. I shouldn't have done it, just when she liked me again. But I hated hospitals and I didn't want to stay in one any longer, and there was no way I was moving in with the Humphreys. I wanted to stay as far away as I could from all of them.

Lily sighed. "I'll talk to Nate. But just know that I'm only trying to do what's best for you."

I already knew that I'd won the argument.

**Nate **

"Nate, can I talk to you for a moment?"

I turned and saw Lily walking into the hospital cafeteria. We were having breakfast.

"Sure," I said. "What about?"

"Charles' living situation."

I gestured for her to sit down. She glanced at Serena and Blair, clearly not wanting to be overheard, but they looked like they were deep in conversation about something.

"As you've probably already realized, it's really not best for Charles to stay here."

I nodded. I actually hadn't really thought about it, but I pretended I had.

"So we could either move him to a hospital in New York, or, preferably, he could just come home. To my house."

"Okay…"

"The problem is, Charles doesn't agree with either of those options. He wants to go back to living at the hotel, with you."

"I think that's probably a good idea," I said, nodding. If he moved back to the hotel, I could keep an eye on him. I was the only one who knew about what Chuck had tried to do earlier at the moment, and I wasn't about to give him an open opportunity to do it again. No, he would move back in with me. It was the best thing to do.

"But you won't always be there to watch out for him!" Lily tried to explain.

"You're right. We'll take shifts," I told her. "When I'm not there, I'll call you to come over. I won't leave until you get there. Then when you have to go, Serena can come over, and you won't leave until she gets there. Then Blair can come, then Eric…"

Lily blinked, looking surprised at my agreement with her that Chuck should always be with someone. She was probably wondering why, but I wasn't about to tell her.

"Well…alright, fine, the two of you win!" Lily finally gave in. "Chuck can go back to live at the hotel."

"Excuse me," Blair cut in. "Did you just say that we'd have to spend time with Chuck in shifts? Like, we'd have to spend hours alone with him?"

"Well, sometimes there could be more than one of us. And it may not be for hours. Of course, it could also be for the whole night on some days." I told her.

"The…the whole night? So we'd sleep there?"

"We have a few bedrooms," I shrugged. "And a couch."

Blair looked stricken.

"You don't have to participate in the shifts," I told her.

Now she looked scandalized, as if it was obscene for me to even suggest that. "No! No, it's fine."

But now Blair's expression shifted to worry. I knew that she was thinking about how she would be able to handle spending hours alone with Chuck and even spending the night.

I wondered how that one would go. I couldn't exactly imagine them having hot chocolate and bonding, or watching _Breakfast at Tiffany's_. But there was no way they could just fall into their old patterns and do what they used to do. It was too late for that now, or maybe too soon. Only time would tell which.

I would just have to wait and see.

**Blair **

I was talking to Serena quietly when her head drooped onto my shoulder and she fell asleep.

I was glad. She needed sleep. We all did. Well, except me-I'd slept a little in Chuck's hospital room earlier, and I didn't feel tired now.

"You should take Serena and go back to the hotel," I whispered across the hospital cafeteria to Nate.

"Me?" he asked, looking surprised.

I rolled my eyes. "You don't have to crawl into bed next to her, I'm just asking you to take her back to the room. I'll give you a room key. You can just sleep there or rent a room in the hotel, or you could stay up and hang around the hotel room. But you need sleep, so I suggest that you get Serena situated and crash on the couch. "

"What about you? You need sleep too."

"I already got a little earlier. And anyway, I'll manage."

I knew that he could see that there was no use arguing so he nodded, pushing his chair back and rising.

"Oh, and you can invite Lily and Eric to come with you too-but Lily will probably stay. Our hotel room is big-I'm sure you'll all find spots there."

"Are you going to come back today?"

"I don't think so," I told him.

Nate nodded. He lifted Serena up and she slumped against him, still fast asleep. "I'll see you when we come back."

"Alright." I said. "See you then."

I watched him walk away. Serena seemed to be half awake now and sort of walking with Nate's support. I don't think she really knew what was going on.

After that I just stared at the Jell-O that Serena had gotten me earlier. It sat there on the table, untouched. I watched it, barely thinking at all, until I heard someone come up to me. I looked up to see Lily looking at me.

"Blair," she said. "You should go back to your hotel room. You haven't slept much lately. You need your sleep. I just talked to Nate, and I'm going to stay here, but you should go. Charles will be fine with me and all the doctors and nurses."

"It's okay," I told her. "I'll stay."

"But you don't have to."

"I know. I want to stay"

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," I said, standing. "I'm going to go see Chuck. Sit. You should eat."

Lily nodded and sat. I walked away.

I took the stairs up. I liked being in control of something in my life while everything else was so out of control. I could control how fast I walked on the stairs, and how big my steps were…I couldn't control how fast an elevator moved.

I couldn't control if Chuck would be okay or not.

I couldn't control Chuck and his habits.

But this-I could control this. I could control one foot in front of the other, stepping up the stairs.

I walked through the opening at the top and walked into a hall, then the waiting room. The person at the desk nodded at me as I walked by. I'd been in and out a lot that night, so he recognized me. I strode down the hall and to Chuck's room, opening the door quietly, in case he was asleep.

His back was to me. Next to him was a nurse, who was walking next to him, holding his arm.

I wondered what was going on for a moment, but then I realized that he was trying to walk. And the nurse was helping him, making sure he wouldn't fall. He was breathing heavily, and had to keep stopping, sometimes bending over.

"I know it's difficult," the nurse was saying soothingly. "But you have to start physical therapy, and ignore the stomach pains. They'll only get worse if you don't exercise at all."

"But it hurts," Chuck said, and I almost gasped at the pain evident in his voice. He could barely talk.

Suddenly Chuck pulled away from the nurse's light grasp, trying to break free to sit down. But he couldn't break the grasp, even though I saw how lightly she was holding him.

Tears sprung to my eyes. Chuck had previously had no problem with physical activity. But now he could barely walk.

I shifted my weight and the floor creaked. The nurse turned around, dropping her hand from Chuck's arm. Chuck didn't know why he had turned, or dropped her arm, but he took advantage of this moment to make his escape back to the bed.

He had barely walked two steps when he fell.

Flat on his face.

With no warning.

He just fell.

He landed, his head making a sickening crack on the floor.

He wasn't awake anymore.

The nurse rushed over to check if he was okay.

"He'll be fine," she said after a moment. "I think maybe we had him walking too soon. And his head didn't hit the ground too hard, he should be fine."

But I started backing away slowly, tears running down my face.

It was so easy to lose him, just like that. It was yet another time he could die. He was so fragile. Things like this would happen all the time.

I wouldn't be there the next time.

I wouldn't be able to handle another scare like that, no matter how quick. I couldn't be here, in this white room with the walls closing in on me, suffocating me. I couldn't be here while Chuck was like this.

I turned and ran, not looking back.

**AN: For some reason I'm not a huge fan of this chapter. I'll try to make the next one better. Sorry that almost none of the doctors ever speak French, I know it doesn't really make sense, but it makes everything easier to understand if it's in English. Oh and don't worry, the nurse didn't lie, Chuck will be fine. So anyway, sorry it's been kinda a while since my last update. There's two paths I've figured out that it could go from here, since I think it's getting a bit boring right now. One is more drama but kind of cliché, and another is more action. I might write two endings to a chapter and let you guys decide. Wait, is that against the rules? I think it might be. Then I don't know what I'll do. I'll figure something out. And did you guys hear that Chace Crawford (Nate) was arrested for marijuana possession? I've always thought of him as a good guy who would never get in trouble with the law. But although I'm disappointed in him, I don't think it's the biggest deal in the world, it's not like he stole a car or killed someone. What are your thoughts on it? Oh, and was anyone really mad when Blair said "It's not like he felt like he deserved it" on this chapter, cuz that's exactly how he felt? If only Blair knew… **

**I don't know when I'll update next, since I have a really busy week and weekend, so it might not be for a week or two. But I'll try to update next weekend, although I don't think I'll have time. **

**Here are three CB videos I absolutely love, if you guys want to check them out. **

**First favorite: .com/watch?v=NA_E27f6IBQ **

**Second favorite: .com/watch?v=NlqHj-w47Uw&feature=related **

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	7. A Strategic Retreat

**Chapter 7 **

_Spotted: Blair Waldorf fleeing the hospital. _

_I used to think that Blair was weak, until she proved me wrong last year. _

_But it looks like a tiger never changes her stripes. _

_You know you love me. _

_Xoxo, _

_Gossip Girl _

**Nate **

I dragged Serena into the hotel room, without much of her help. She seemed to be half awake, supporting herself only a little. The receptionist at the front desk at the hotel had given me a confused look as we walked in dragging her along, but Serena had mumbled "He's with me". I didn't think she was really in her right mind when she said it. She'd probably object to me sleeping in the hotel room if she was awake. But I doubted I'd be able to get a room at such short notice, and anyway, I wanted to keep an eye on Serena and make sure she was okay.

Serena had told us what room she had been staying in with Blair when we entered the hotel and had given Eric her room key when we reached the hotel room.

As we walked in, I saw that the room was relatively neat. It looked like Blair and Serena had been taking pretty good care of it.

I didn't know which room was Serena's, so I just guessed and lay her down on the bed in the first room I went in. Eric started setting up the couch as a bed. I think he thought that that it would be a little weird to sleep in Blair's bed, and we didn't know which bed that was, so it was probably safer to just sleep on the couch.

After I set Serena down on the bed, I turned to leave, letting her wrist slip from my fingers to fall onto the bed. But she grasped my arm and held me back.

"Stay," she said quietly, her eyes still closed. "Don't go."

"Serena…"

"Don't go," she repeated, more firmly now.

I sighed. I knew it was a bad idea to stay in the room. I could just sleep on the floor, but still…

But in the end, really, how could I refuse?

**Chuck **

I woke up again in the hospital bed.

I had been stupid. I shouldn't have tried to walk by myself. Especially at a quick pace. But I hated the way I needed the help. And I hated how much it hurt.

I hated this hospital.

I didn't want to have to deal with it yet, the pain. But I knew that I couldn't avoid it forever. The only way to heal would be to keep trying to walk, and to go through more pain.

I looked around and saw no one. I felt so alone now. Had everyone gone home? What about Blair? Was she gone too, with the rest of them?

Why would she leave?

I knew that she cared about me now. She had come to see me and talk to me after she'd told me she never wanted to speak to me again. She cared. And she'd forgiven me. But we hadn't gotten back together.

And now I knew why.

She didn't love me.

I knew it was true. It was the only explanation. And really, I was lucky. I was lucky that she'd forgiven me. Lucky that she cared about me.

But she didn't love me, and that changed everything.

It was different than before. Before she'd loved me, but she hadn't forgiven me and she hadn't wanted anything to do with me.

Now she wanted to be around me and she'd forgiven me, but she didn't love me.

Was it worse now? Now that she didn't love me?

Now she would be in my life. It should have been all that mattered that she would speak to me and that we would be friends. And it did matter. It mattered a lot.

But without her love it was like nothing mattered. So how could it matter when she didn't love me?

The whole thing was so confusing.

She didn't love me, and I didn't think she ever would again.

Should I try to move on without her? To another girl? Would I be able to? Or was I just condemned to living alone, always in love with a woman who would never love me back?

Should I keep fighting for her?

I didn't even have to ask myself the question. I knew the answer before I'd even asked the question.

**Nate **

I woke up to a commotion in the hotel room. I was lying on the floor, on some pillows. Serena was on the bed. I had stayed, resolving to just sit on the ground, but I'd fallen asleep, I guess.

But now there was someone in the hotel room, and I had to go check it out.

I stood and walked as quietly as I could out of the room I was in with Serena. Eric was fast asleep on the couch.

I located where the noise was coming from. It sounded like rustling and someone whispering, and it was coming from the other bedroom. I crept in.

A familiar curly-haired brunette was on her hands and knees. She was throwing piles of clothes into an empty suitcase. She then turned to a drawer and started throwing out the contents, murmuring "Passport, passport…where is it? Passport…"

"Blair?" I asked cautiously.

She turned around. Her eyes were rimmed with red and were a little puffy. She'd been crying.

"Nate?" she answered. "Why are _you_ here?"

"Um…you told me to stay here tonight."

"Oh…right…." She seemed pretty distracted.

"What are you doing?" I asked after a moment.

She gestured to the suitcase. "Packing," she said. She started rummaging through the drawer again.

"Packing? You're not…_leaving_, are you?"

Blair looked suddenly nervous. "I have to go," she blurted out. She pulled out a little blue book from the drawer. Her passport. She started to leave, without her suitcase, which was still only half packed and on her bed, open.

"Wait! Blair!" I quickly called back to her. "You're coming back, though, right? You're just going out for a little, and you'll be back in a couple of hours, right?" I desperately needed confirmation that Blair would be staying, though it looked like the opposite. Chuck needed her right now. She couldn't just leave.

Blair looked at me for a moment, an uneasy and extremely sad expression on her face. Then she gave me a small smile.

"Of course," she said, and with that, she was gone.

**Blair **

I rushed away from the room, holding back tears. I had just completely lied to Nate. I wasn't coming back. I was going far, far away. I was going to hop on the first flight I could, no matter where it would take me. I would eventually find my way back to New York. But I couldn't stay here and wait for the next flight to New York, if I could even book it. I needed to be on the first flight I could get on.

"Hi," I greeted the lady at the front desk with a smile.

"How may I help you?" she asked.

"I need to book a flight."

"It's probably easiest to do that online," she pointed out. "When do you want to leave?"

"Today."

"Today?" she exclaimed. "I'm not sure if that possible, Ms…"

"Waldorf. Blair Waldorf." I informed her.

"Ms. Waldorf. Where would you like to go, anyway?"

I thought that she would probably think it a little weird if I said it didn't matter.

"New York?" I asked hopefully first.

She checked her computer. "I'm sorry, Ms. Waldorf, but all the flights to New York today are full."

"Anything nearby? Pennsylvania? Connecticut? New Jersey?"

"No, I'm sorry Ms. Waldorf, but…wait! There's an opening here to New Jersey."

"Great! I'll buy the ticket."

I bought the ticket and was turning to leave when I saw the seat number on the ticket. I slowly turned.

"This isn't…a coach seat, is it?"

"It is," the woman said, confirming my worst fears. "Why? Is there something wrong with that?"

Yes! I wanted to scream at her. There is everything wrong with that! There is everything wrong with Blair Waldorf riding coach!

But, instead, I just gave her a tight smile and said, "No. Nothing," and walked away.

I could have requested a first class seat, but there may not have been a flight available, and I needed to get away.

So I would ride coach. But the thought of Blair Waldorf riding coach? It was sick, preposterous. But did I really have another choice?

I rushed to security, where I had to wait in line. I hated waiting in line. I slipped off Serena's heels (which I was still wearing) early and held them, squeezing my toes into the thin carpet.

It took a while to finally get through security and everything so that I could get to my gate. I got there just in time and took my seat next to an old man. At least it wasn't a mother and her crying baby, or something.

As I watched the plane take off, I felt an immense wave of relief wash over me. I was escaping all of the loss and the fear that was here in France. But I also felt something else. A small piece of me felt a twinge of uncertainty and regret as I sped farther and farther away from the man that I loved.

**Serena **

I woke up in a hotel bed, and I didn't remember getting there. The last time this had happened, I had been drugged by Georgina and was missing the SATs. So I was a little apprehensive feeling like this again. I got out of bed slowly, realizing I was still in my clothes from the night before.

I walked into the main area of the hotel room to see Nate pouring some coffee into a mug.

The floor creaked under me and Nate looked up. He smiled when he saw me.

"Good morning," he said.

"Good morning," I said back automatically, though my brain was whirring.

Why was Nate here? Had he spent the night here? I couldn't remember a thing.

"Did you…sleep here?" I asked.

"I came in with you," Nate said, confused. "Don't you remember? I guess not…you were pretty out of it."

Nate must have noticed my alarmed expression because he rushed to say "You were tired. You were kind of half asleep, in a weird sort of daze."

My expression cleared. "Oh, okay."

"Anyway, I didn't really do much sleeping."

That didn't sound good.

"I fell asleep for a little bit, but then…" he trailed off.

"Where did you sleep?" I asked, suddenly noticing Eric asleep on the couch. "Blair's room?"

Nate looked a little uncomfortable now. "No, well…I slept in your room."

I opened my mouth to speak but Nate cut in.

"I know it sounds bad! It's just…I was going to stay up and watch TV or something, but then you asked me-begged me-to stay with you, so I just sat down on the floor. But I underestimated how tired I was, and I fell asleep. Then I woke up later to some noise in a different room, so I went to check it out, and I found Blair in her room."

"Blair?" I said sharply. It was unbelievably awkward now that I had assumed something that was so different than what had happened. I wanted to change the topic, and fast.

"Yeah, she was in her room…but she just went out for a little. She'll be back later." Nate responded confidently.

"Are you sure? Where'd she go?"

"I don't know…"

"Well what did she say before she left?"

"She just said she would be coming back in a couple of hours when I asked."

"How long has it been since then?"

Nate hesitated. "A couple of hours."

I groaned. What if she never came back? "Why did she come back to the hotel room?"

Nate paused even longer this time. He seemed to be choosing his words carefully. "She was…looking for something."

"Well, did she find it?"

"Yes."

"What was it?" I asked, fearing the answer.

"It was…Serena, don't freak out, but…it was her passport."

"Her passport?" I exclaimed.

"She said she'd be back soon though! She'll be back, Serena. She wouldn't lie."

But I was already on my way out the door.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Nate called, rushing after me.

"I know Blair. And she's not afraid to lie."

"But-"

"She's gone, Nate."

Nate still looked like he wanted to argue, but I slammed the door in his face before he could say another word.

**AN: I don't have much to say, other than sorry it took so long to post this! I haven't started the new chapter yet, but it shouldn't take too long since I'm not too busy right now. And as always, thanks for… **

**Reviewing: RomanticSoul693, GGlover93, ronan03, HnM skinnys, chairlover1234**

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**Favorite Story: LalaHN **

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**Please please please review! **


	8. He'll Be Back Tonight

**Chapter 8 **

_C is coming home! _

_Yeah, that's right-and you heard it from me first. _

_Keep me updated. _

_Xoxo, _

_Gossip Girl _

**Blair **

"He'll be back tonight."

That was what Serena had said to me on the phone.

Just those four words. That was it. They sent chills down my spine as she said them.

Serena had first called when I was on my flight. I'd gotten her missed call and message when I got off. She called more that day, but I didn't answer until the next day.

"Blair!" she'd answered, seeming surprised that I'd picked up. "Where are you? Are you back in New York? I-"

"S-"

"-went to the airport and I looked at all planes going to New York today since I thought you might be going there, but there was a recent one that had just left-"

"Serena!"

"-and there wasn't another one for hours, I checked that gate but you weren't there-"

"S!" I'd finally gotten her attention. "Please don't talk about him. I don't want to talk about him anymore." Then I added quietly "It hurts too much."

"But, B, he needs you! Chuck is-"

At the mention of his name, I hung up.

By the next time she called, she had learned not to talk to me about him.

Since then, we had talked on the phone a few times, just about everyday things. Serena hadn't mentioned Chuck anymore, until now.

"Blair?" Serena asked now. "Are you okay?"

"I have to go," I told her. I brought the phone away from my ear and pressed the "end" button.

My mind was completely empty except for those four words, the words that made me want to run farther away but also made me want to cheer-

He'll be back tonight.

**Chuck **

"Here we are!" Lily said, wheeling me on my wheelchair into the hotel apartment I shared with Nate.

"Home sweet home," I said unenthusiastically under my breath.

"Where do you want me to bring you?" Lily asked cheerfully. She was trying to act excited to get me in a better mood.

"Just bring me to my bedroom," I told her. I was exhausted.

"Okay."

She wheeled me in, then stopped next to my bed. She had to help me in, which  
I hated.

I knew it would be hard for me to fall asleep, but I closed my eyes anyway. I wanted her to leave me alone. After everyone fussing over me and taking care of me, I would welcome being alone for once, with no doctors or nurses just outside the door, or Lily and Nate and Eric and Serena hovering over me…just on my own. I'd been alone in the hospital room, but not really. There were always people coming in and out, and a doctor just outside or in the room.

"Nate will be back tonight," Lily said. She still hadn't left.

I was silent. I pretended to be falling asleep, trying to make her go away.

"I'll be here until then if you need me."

"I don't need to be babysat." I said angrily now. I opened my eyes, giving up on the whole pretending to be asleep thing.

Lily pursed her lips. She paused before responding. "Charles, I know you don't like to ask for help, but we all need it sometimes. And it's your time now. You need our help."

When I didn't respond she just sighed. "I'll be in the living room."

Finally I heard the sound of her steps leaving the room and the door closing.

She was gone.

I opened my eyes now.

I felt sad.

I realized then that I didn't want this. I didn't want to be completely alone.

There was only one person that I could think of who I'd want to be with right now.

**Lily **

"What do you mean, you won't be back tonight?" I said sternly into the phone.

"Look, I'm sorry," Nate said.

"But Chuck needs you here!"

"I'll be home later! But not until really late. Don't worry, though-I had Serena change around some of the shifts so that Blair will come tonight instead."

"Blair? I'm not leaving her alone with him."

"They'll be fine!"

"It's not a good idea." I told him. "No, I'll stay. Rufus won't mind."

"Lily…" Nate started. "I get what you mean, and I know you just want what's best for Chuck. But what if what's best for Chuck is to see Blair? You know how upset he was when she left, even though he didn't show it."

"Exactly. Who's to say she won't just leave again? And then he'll be even more upset. What's best for both of them is to stay away from each other. They'll just cause each other more pain."

"Lily. This is what Chuck wants."

"But it's not what's best for him. Or for Blair."

"Fine. You can supervise. But Blair's still coming over."

"But-"

"Lily, it will be fine. I have to go now. Bye."

I hung up angrily. He was just going to leave his best friend in his time of need? True, he's be back later, but only just in time to clean up after the storm Blair will leave behind.

I checked the time. It was 5. Nate had originally been coming at 6. Now I guessed that that would be when Blair would be coming.

I poured myself a glass of wine.

Somehow the time had changed to 5:30. The clocks must not be working, especially because the next time I looked, seemingly only seconds later, read 5:55. I squinted at the clock. Surely it couldn't be that time already?

I suddenly jumped up. It was probably a good idea to check on Charles before Blair came.

I crept to his door and opened it a crack.

He was sound asleep. I could see him chest rising and falling, breathing evenly. He was okay.

Behind me I heard the elevator doors open and the unmistakable click on heels on hardwood floor.

**Nate **

"Is she mad that you're not going to be home until later?" Serena asked worriedly as I got off the phone.

We were walking briskly on the sidewalk in Brooklyn. Serena had told me to meet her there.

"No, it's fine." I told her. "Don't worry about it. You said it was an emergency."

"Yeah, and it is," said Serena. "It's about Dan."

"Dan?" I asked, confused. I hadn't talked to Dan since before I found out about Chuck being shot.

"He's in trouble. I'm not sure exactly what's wrong, but I know it has something to do with Georgina."

"Georgina? How do you know?"

"I called him to see how he was, and she answered. When I asked if Dan was there, she said that he wasn't, that he was buying her some food since she's not supposed to walk around too much. She's on bed rest, but she told me she doesn't always follow it."

"On bed rest? Why was she at Dan's house anyway?"

"I don't know! That's why I'm so worried! Anything with Georgina involved is not good."

"Wait," I stopped walking. "So you don't even know if anything's wrong?"

Serena turned around. "No, I do know that something's wrong! It has to be! Think about it! When was the last time you heard from Dan?"

"I don't know, a week ago?" I said defensively. Now that I thought about it, that was kind of a while.

"Same. And there's been nothing about him on Gossip Girl. Meanwhile, a week later, he's living with Georgina at his loft while she's on bed rest! What could have happened in a week to change his feelings about her?"

I hesitated, then started walking again. I was starting to see her point.

"Let's go."

She gave me a triumphant look and we walked up to Dan's loft.

Serena knocked on the door.

"Dan?" she called.

There was some noise from inside, and the door opened.

"Serena? Nate?" Dan questioned, confused. "What are you guys doing here?"

I noticed that he had only opened the door a little bit.

"Dan, we-" Serena started, but was interrupted by another voice.

"Dan, who's at the door?" I heard Georgina's voice from the other room. Jenny's old bedroom.

Dan winced. "It's just Nate and Serena!" he called back.

Serena raised her eyebrows. "So you're living with Georgina?"

"No-well, yes, but only because…what are you doing here, anyway?" He didn't seem too keen to explain.

"We were worried." I informed him. "Serena called and Georgina picked up the phone. She said she was on bed rest. You _hate_ her. Why are you living with her?"

Dan looked really uncomfortable now.

"She's just staying with me for now," he explained. "We're not together or anything. It's the least I could do after…" he trailed off.

"After what?" Serena prompted.

"After this," Georgina answered, waddling with some difficulty into the room, her hands rested on her huge, round stomach.

Dan looked a little sheepish and guilty.

"Oh my god," Serena breathed.

**Blair **

I walked up behind Lily. She didn't turn around but I knew that she knew I was there.

"How is he?" I asked in a small voice.

"He's doing fine," Lily said, a little coldly. She wasn't happy that I'd left.

"Lily, I'm so-" I almost said that I was sorry I left. But was I? I had needed to leave. But after some retail therapy, when I was lying in bed at night, I couldn't help wishing that I was back there, in that hospital chair, holding his hand. I was a coward leaving. I had been weak-Gossip Girl was right again.

"-sorry," I finished. "I shouldn't have left. It was just so hard, being there…"

"I understand. I just wish you could have stayed," Lily said, a little gentler.

"But I'm here now." I pointed out.

"Yes," Lily said, her voice harsh again. "But you go back down that elevator if you're going to leave again. Chuck doesn't need that right now. So if you're just going to leave, then go now, before you cause any more damage."

I was taken aback by her words. They stung.

"Or stay." She said simply.

"I'll stay." I said, glaring at her. "_You_ can go. I'm here now. _I'll_ keep an eye on Chuck."

"Oh, I'm staying." Lily said.

"Is there a problem here?"

It was Chuck.

Lily opened the door all the way.

He was sitting up on his bed, looking at Lily, carefully avoiding my gaze.

He was dressed in a bathrobe. I remembered the last time I'd seen him like that.

When he'd pretended like he hadn't done anything wrong, like he hadn't slept with little Jenny Humphrey. Like he hadn't just changed everything. Instead, he'd lied-well, at least he hadn't told the truth.

But it was also the time where we'd started all over again, forgetting our past mishaps. Where we'd hugged and kissed and smiled and laughed…where everything had been all right again.

But also when everything was about to be ruined.

Lily smiled at Chuck.

"Everything's fine!" she assured him. "How are you doing?"

"I've been better," Chuck said grimly.

"Can I get you anything? Water? An ice pack?"

"An ice pack doesn't really help a gunshot wound, Lily."

"Water, then?"

"I'll take a large Scotch."

"Charles! Stop joking."

I don't think either me or Lily were sure if Chuck was joking or not.

Chuck tried to get out of bed onto his wheelchair. Lily rushed over to help him.

"I can do it," Chuck insisted.

Lily stopped in her tracks and hung back, watching with a worried expression. Chuck was not going to accept her help-at least this time-no matter what, and she knew it. So she watched helplessly-we both did-as we watched Chuck struggle.

Chuck grabbed the chair, knuckles white. He used the armrests to push himself out of bed, then slowly lowered himself onto the wheelchair.

He started wheeling himself over to the door, and I quickly stepped back to let him through. He didn't even glance at me.

Lily followed him, and I followed her.

Chuck turned on the T.V. and flipped through the channels. He stopped on a channel with an action movie on. Gunshots and the sound of explosions rang through the room.

I winced at the gunshots, imagining Chuck being hit and lying alone, dying.

Lily cleared her throat. "Chuck?" she asked.

Chuck turned his head a little to show that he was listening.

"Why don't we play a board game?"

"A _board game?_" Chuck asked, surprised.

Lily looked pleased that she'd gotten his attention. "Yes!" she said, clapping her hands together. "I brought Scrabble!"

Chuck opened his mouth to argue but Lily had already taken the game out and started setting it up. He closed his mouth, knowing that he would be fighting a losing argument.

Lily set up the game.

**Lily **

We'd been playing for a while now.

Blair lay down her last pieces on the board.

I looked down to see what letters they were. L-I-E-S. Lies.

I scanned the rest of the board.

Hurt. Uncle. Speech. Games. Hate. Losing. Scandal. Leaving.

Some words reminded me of some event between the two.

Uncle-I thought that maybe it had something to do with the hotel. Blair had practically thrown the pieces on the board. I knew that Jack had taken it, and something had happened to get it back, just before Charles and Blair broke up. I wasn't stupid. I could put two and two together. They must have had some sort of fight about the hotel.

Speech-that one was easy. Chuck had put it down before glancing angrily at Blair. Blair had once tricked Chuck and lied to him, to help her be able to give the speech at the Freshman Dinner.

Leaving-this one must have been about Blair leaving earlier in the week. Chuck had lain the pieces down.

Some words were more general-hurt, games, hate, losing, scandal, and now lies.

My words were things like teacup, and guitar-more random words.

It was my turn. I lay down the last of my tiles. Q-U-E-S-T.

Charles had already finished his tiles, so the game was over.

"There!" I said, smiling, as I counted up the points. "I won!"

"What?" Blair snapped, looking shocked. She took the paper we had been keeping score on.

Her lips moved, mouthing the numbers as she counted.

"I lost?" she said quietly.

"We both lost," Chuck reminded her.

She looked up at him, and it was the first time this night they weren't glaring at each other.

Now they just both looked sad.

Somehow I wasn't sure we were talking about Scrabble anymore.

**AN: Heyy! So did you guys think the end of this chapter was a little cheesy, or predictable, or was it okay? I thought it would be cute, but now looking back on it…I'm not so sure. So just tell me your thoughts on it! Okay so I won't be posting until July 8****th**** or 9****th**** or possibly later, because I'm going away (and I won't be able to take my laptop-the horror!) but I'll try my best to get it up the 8****th**** or 9****th****, before I go away again on the 10****th****. After that post it should be about 11 days or a little more until the next post, but we'll see. After that, posts should be much more often, maybe even a few times a week! It depends. You'll just have to wait and see! So the next chapter will probably be the first part of the one I talked about earlier that will have 2 paths-I might even write even more paths/choices. Oh, and tell me if you think I should keep the whole Georgina pregnant thing in. I know I said I wouldn't write about that in the beginning, but…I don't know now. I might not do Dan's point of view, I may just discuss it from Nate's point of view, or Serena's. I'm not sure yet. I don't even know if I'll even keep it at all. You guys tell me. I'll just edit the chapter and delete that part if enough people don't like it. **

**Thanks for… **

**Reviewing: RomanticSoul693, ronan03, HnM skinnys, Richelia, and dropdeaddesiree**

**Favorite Author: CHAIRstory **

**Favorite Story: dropdeaddesiree and CHAIRstory **

**Story Alert: cutegalnupi **

**You guys are awesome! **

**Please review! **


	9. A Mistake or a Sign?

**Chapter 9 **

**So this is the chapter with the choices. I decided to have all the choices just for the ending of this chapter, and I put all of the choices there. This stuff you're about to read will stay the same, until the part where I tell you the choices start. They're labeled. So…enjoy! **

_Boy billionaire…broke? _

_That's the latest news here on Gossip Girl…it seems that his account was closed for safety reasons. _

_Blah, blah, blah…I don't really care. _

_The real juicy part is the question of how C is going to handle being a poor boy for a little. _

_You know you love me. _

_Xoxo, _

_Gossip Girl _

**Lily **

"I'm really sorry," I said again.

"It's fine," Chuck insisted again. "I understand. If I hadn't been hurt, I would've done the same thing. They got my bank account card. Closing the account was the smartest thing to do once you heard I'd been mugged and that they'd stolen the card."

"Are you sure?" I asked anxiously.

"It's fine," Chuck said firmly.

"I'll open back up the account, or we can make a new one, as soon as possible. Unfortunately, that will take a few days, maybe longer. They need to check all withdrawals and charges. And they also have to wait to see if anyone tries to do those things, and decide when it will be safe to open it up again, or if it is at all. Until then, you already know that anything you buy at the hotel is free, since you own it, but for everything else, just borrow my card. You don't have to pay me back or anything. It's my fault, anyways, that your account is closed."

"It's okay," he said again. But he agreed. "Except I will pay you back," he told me.

"Charles, you don't have to-"

"I want to," he said.

"Fine," I said.

I looked over at Blair. She had been standing awkwardly in the corner throughout this conversation.

Chuck followed my gaze and looked at her too. He turned around and headed to his room.

He looked mad. Blair looked upset.

I sighed. "I have to go," I said, looking at my watch.

Blair raised her eyebrows. "Now?" she asked.

"Yes. Will you be okay here with Chuck?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," she confirmed. "See you later."

"Are you sure?" I asked her again.

"We'll be fine!" she laughed. "What do you think is going to happen?"

I was still uneasy.

"Go," she urged me.

"Nate will be home soon," I reminded her.

"I know, I know. I'll leave when he gets here."

"Okay," I said.

The elevator doors opened.

I stepped in. I gave her a last smile before the doors closed.

**Serena **

Sitting on Dan's couch and sipping coffee seemed so strange in the current situation. It seemed too normal, since everything else was so…absurd.

Georgina, pregnant with Dan's baby?

Including Chuck sleeping with Jenny and him getting shot, this was the most surprising news in the summer so far.

I could barely believe it. I knew that Dan and I were over. We had been for a long time. I didn't have feelings for him anymore, despite that little….slip-up…the past week.

And yet…it still hurt to see evil, scheming Georgina Sparks carrying the baby that I had once believed that I would have.

Because I had been in love with Dan-I had thought that, someday, in the future, Dan and I would get married, and then maybe have children…

But I should have known it was too good to last.

So as I sat there in Dan's loft, I felt almost jealous. I didn't want to be pregnant, but it was just hard watching Georgina sitting there with her hands resting on her bulging stomach.

"So," Nate said into the awkward silence.

No one had spoken since Dan had invited us in and poured us coffee.

Georgina had just watched us with an evil smile on her face the whole time.

"When are you due?" Nate continued.

"Next week," Georgina answered, her smile widening.

"Where are you going to live then?" I cut in. I hoped that the words that came next would not be the answer I dreaded, but…

"Dan offered for me to stay here. So he can help out with the baby."

"Are you sure it's even his?" I asked.

Georgina's smile faded a bit.

"Of course it is," she snapped. "Who else's would it be?"

I didn't answer for a moment. Then I turned to Dan.

"You don't want to take a test or anything, just to be sure?"

Georgina smiled again and turned to Dan.

Dan opened his mouth to answer but Georgina cut in.

"You don't want to take a test, do you, Dan? You trust me, right?" she purred.

"Umm, yeah. I mean, of course."

"It's settled then," Georgina said smugly. "No test. We know it's his baby."

I couldn't stand watching the way they looked at each other anymore.

"I've got to go," I announced, standing up.

"Me too," Nate said, also rising. I noticed that he looked a little uncomfortable too.

"Oh…" Dan looked a little surprised. "Okay. Well…bye."

He didn't walk us to the door. We left quickly and didn't talk until we were out of the building.

"Well," Nate said.

"That was…" I said, searching for the right word.

"Not what we expected?"

I nodded. "I didn't know what to expect, but it definitely wasn't that."

Nate nodded too now.

"Should we be worried?"

I sighed. "I don't know," I said. "Dan seems almost…happy."

"I wonder if he's told his family."

"I don't know. I can't see Rufus being too happy with this."

"But what if this is all is just a scheme of Georgina's? I mean, we all know she's not very innocent."

"Believe me, it's crossed my mind." I said. "Did you hear what she said? That they haven't taken a test?"

"Yeah. I would have thought that Dan would have made her take one. Just to be sure."

"Can you even take a test now? Before the baby's born?"

"I'm not sure. But this baby could be anyone's. How is Dan so sure it's his?"

"The timing is perfect. They were…involved almost 9 months ago. It could be someone from Russia's baby, but…"

"I know. It just seems to fit too well to be a scheme. I just…I guess it's just hard to believe. I wish it weren't true."

"Yeah." I said quietly. "Me too."

**Blair**

I took a deep breath, my smile fading now that Lily was gone. Chuck had stormed off to his room. I knew that he was upset with me.

I walked to his room and stood in the doorway.

He was sitting on his bed, over the sheets, propped up by his pillows. He was just staring at the wall.

"Chuck," I said.

He didn't respond, or even glance at me. I walked over to the side of his bed and sat down.

"Chuck, I'm sorry." I said.

He still looked stubbornly ahead.

"I know that I shouldn't have left, but-"

"Then why did you?" Chuck cut in angrily, looking at me now.

I looked down. "You don't understand…"

"No, I think I understand perfectly. You just didn't care, did you? Once you saw that I would live, and the initial shock passed, you didn't think I needed you anymore. Well, you were wrong. After you left…"

Chuck stopped, as if he had just realized that he was speaking out loud.

I waited for a moment before I said "What happened after I left?"

Chuck shook his head. "You know how I feel about you," he said, looking at me. Then he looked away. "After you left, everything was just…all wrong. The days were longer, and more tiring…it was hard, then, to see the light at the end of the tunnel."

"And then you just show up here," he continued. "Like nothing's different. Like you never left. Like you care."

"I care. You know I care." I said quietly.

"Yeah, I know. But not enough. You care about me. But you don't l-" He quickly stopped himself.

I waited, holding my breath. I don't what? What was he trying to say?

"You care enough to come here and make sure I'm okay. But never that I'm happy. You don't think before you do things. You just left, without thinking about how it would make me feel. You tricked me for the speech at the Freshman Dinner, and you didn't feel bad. You didn't think about what would happen if I found out."

"Well you don't think before your actions either!" I interrupted, angry now too. "You didn't think before you slept with Jenny Humphrey! You didn't think about how that what make me feel!"

"I did! I thought you wouldn't care! I thought you didn't love me, remember! I thought that you hated me. What did it matter to you what I did, when you hated me so much?"

"But I didn't hate you! I love you!" I shouted. Chuck froze. He looked completely taken by surprise.

"Loved you." I corrected myself quietly. "I loved you."

"I didn't know that, then." Chuck continued.

"What about with your uncle?" I asked. "When you sold me to him in exchange for the hotel?"

"I know I made a mistake, and I've been sorry about it ever since!"

"Well sorry's not enough!"

"What else is there?"

"There's nothing you can say or do to justify it, Chuck! It's done! You cared more about some stupid hotel than you did for the girl you claimed you were in love with."

"Claimed? I was in love with you. And I still am. And I promise you that if I could go back in time, I would do anything I could to stop myself from doing that. You're worth more than a million hotels. I would have given away everything if it would keep us together. I thought…I thought you'd forgive me. It was a mistake…it was stupid. I should've known that you wouldn't forgive me. I got what I deserved, losing you and all my friends. I got what I deserved, getting shot."

"Chuck…not even you deserves that…" I said, but he ignored me.

"I wish I could just take it all back. But nothing will change the fact that I want to be with you. Forever. Nothing will change the fact that I love you."

My heart was beating very fast. I was still looking down. I could feel his eyes on my face. I looked down to see our hands intertwined. When had that happened? I slowly looked up.

I leaned in.

**Chuck **

Nothing was better than this.

I wasn't even sure what had happened. One second, I was pouring my heart out to her, but I didn't expect it to have any effect. The next second, we were kissing on my bed. It was just like old times.

I worried for a moment that Blair would regret this later. But I couldn't stop, and it seemed that neither could she.

She rolled over me.

"Ow," I said. I tried to stop myself from saying it, but it was too late.

Blair sat up.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said. "Did I hurt you?"

"No," I denied it.

"No, no, I did," she argued. "You said ow."

"It's fine."

"So I did hurt you," she said exasperatedly. "I knew it."

"Blair, I'm okay," I told her. "Really, I'm fine."

But the moment was over, and we both knew it.

Blair glanced at the clock.

"I should go,' she said quickly. "Nate will be here soon…do you see the time? He'll be here any second…"

She looked a little flustered and said this all in a rush.

"You're okay here until then, right?" she said, but didn't wait for me to answer. "Okay, good. It's only for a minute or two…"

She seemed to be trying to assure herself that it was all right.

"Okay?" she asked me. She seemed to be trying to act forcedly polite and formal.

"Yeah, that's fine. Nate will be here soon. I'll be fine until then."

"Good," Blair said, standing up. "I'll see you later."

She rushed out of the room without looking back.

**Nate **

Serena threw her bag down on her bed and sat down next to it.

"Okay, I'd better get home to Chuck now," I said. "Lily's expecting me soon."

Serena didn't answer.

"I should go," I tried again.

"Serena?" I asked finally. "Are you okay?" I sat down on the bed next to her.

"This can't be true," she said. "And even if it is, we can't let it go untested! We need to know if she's telling the truth or not!"

"Who, Georgina?" I asked, confused.

"We have to do something!" Serena continued, like she hadn't heard me.

She was probably talking about Georgina's baby, I decided. We hadn't talked about it that much in the way home, we'd talked about other things too, but I guessed that it was still on her mind.

"Well, what are we supposed to do?" I questioned. "There's not really anything we can do."

"We'll figure something out," she said. She turned to me. She was smiling, her eyes glinting in a dangerous way.

"That sounds pretty ominous. And sneaky. Should I call Blair?" I joked. I was already texting Lily and Chuck to tell them that I wouldn't be home until later, maybe not until the next day.

"No," she responded, taking me seriously. "This time's different. This time, I'm going to bring her down without Blair's help. I was the one who started everything with Georgina."

She smiled that evil grin again.

"And now I'm going to end it."

**Okay, so everything above is the normal part of the chapter, that won't change. Here's choice number 1 for the end of the chapter. **

**Choice #1 **

**Chuck **

I glanced at Nate's text. So he wouldn't be home until later. That was better for me. It would give me more alone time to think.

What had just happened, what did that mean? That she still loved me? Or just that tension was running a bit high, and she just made a mistake?

How did everything get to be this complicated? But I guess in this world, that's what it always is.

Complicated.

I heard the elevator door ping open. Had Nate changed his mind?

I lowered myself into my wheelchair.

"Nate?" I called, wheeling myself out of my bedroom and towards the elevator.

But it wasn't Nate.

In fact, I didn't recognize this man at all.

"Chuck Bass," he said with a heavy accent. "We finally meet. I've heard so much about you."

And he drew out of his pocket a gun, which he pointed right at my face.

**This is the choice I have planned out the most (I've pretty much planned out the whole rest of the story, except the very end, with this one) and I think, my favorite. But it will be a little much-a lot of action and stuff, and I don't know if that's what people want. I think you guys probably want more **_**Mean Girls**_** than **_**Taken**_** with this story, so that's the problem with this option. To explain this more, Chuck's mugging wasn't random in this choice, it was planned. Someone (I won't say who yet but they have been in/are in the show) who owes these people a lot of money has given Chuck's name to some dangerous people. It will be explained more later, and it will make more sense then. Blair will get involved, but I don't think anyone else will. It will be very suspenseful, broken up by stuff about Georgina's baby in the middle probably. **

**Choice #2 **

I woke up and looked next to me automatically, as I did every morning.

But like every morning, he wasn't there.

And like every morning, I was disappointed.

Every day I wished that it had all been a bad dream, a terrible nightmare-everything since Chuck traded me for the hotel. It had just gone downhill from there for the most part. I would even have been happy with everything after going to Chuck's house and getting back together being a dream. As long as he hadn't been with Jenny…that was the final straw for me. It was what started a whirlwind of terrible events. If he hadn't slept with her, I wouldn't have broken up with him. And if I hadn't broken up with him, he wouldn't have left. And if he hadn't left, he wouldn't have been shot.

My head was spinning from it all.

And what about what had happened the night before? It was just a slip-up, wasn't it? It didn't mean anything. We'd broken up. It was just an accident. A mistake. Right?

Right. That's all it was. I just hoped that Chuck knew that too.

Not that I hadn't enjoyed it. But I needed to learn to control myself better, and so did Chuck. We were done, and we both needed to move on and stop torturing ourselves with what could have been.

But when we were talking before that…he seemed so earnest. So honest. So sincere. It was easy to believe him then. But now that I was away for him, and my head was clearer, I realized that he may not have meant everything he said. He said that he loves me. That, I knew, was true. But what about the rest of it? Chuck was used to playing games. He loved them. What if he was just saying it all to get me back? Because getting me back was just another sick game for him. You can't toy with people's emotions that way. I learned that the hard way, by watching and living it. But I guess Chuck hadn't learned his lesson yet.

I got up and got ready for the day. I had just finished when my phone vibrated.

It was a text from Nate.

_We need to talk. I'll meet you at your house in ten minutes? _

It said.

I really had nothing better to do that day.

_See you then,_

I texted back.

I sat down on my bed and grabbed a magazine while I waited. I knew that my mom would send him up when he got here.

He was early. The door was opened, and he knocked on the frame when he walked to the doorway.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey…so what's wrong? What did you need to talk to me about so urgently?"

"Well…it's about Chuck."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course it's about Chuck. When is it not, nowadays?"

"I need you to do something for me. A favor. Will you?"

"That depends on what it is," I said, narrowing my eyes. "Should I be scared? If it has to do with Chuck, maybe I should be."

"You guys aren't back together," Nate said, ignoring me.

"Yeah…" I said slowly. "Way to point out the obvious," I added after a moment. But I was starting to feel a little apprehensive.

"And Chuck is still hurt. His stomach…well, I talked to Lily recently. And she said that the doctor said…that Chuck isn't healing too well."

"So did you just come here to remind me about Chuck's condition?" I snapped.

"No! I just…I want Chuck to get better. That's all."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"Because," Nate said. "The doctor said that Chuck needs to be more careful. He needs to let himself heal. And he needs to fight harder. And the doctor thinks that the problem is that Chuck doesn't want to. That he doesn't care. I just think that he should have-well, something worth fighting for."

"Oh no," I said slowly, realization dawning on me. "You're not saying…"

"It's just until he gets better!" Nate said quickly.

"But who knows how long that will take?"

"Well, with you pretending to be his girlfriend again, not very long!"

"What if I don't want to do this?" I shot at him.

"What if Chuck is permanently hurt because you don't?" Nate shot back.

I sighed and closed my eyes tightly. "What happens when he finds out?"

"He doesn't ever have to. You can just break up with him when he's completely better."

"Why would you want to do something like this to your best friend?"

"Because I care about him."

I snorted. "Sounds like it."

"It's better that he gets his heart broken once he's better." Nate explained. "If we don't do this, then he may never get better. He could even die if an accident happens, like falling down the stairs or even off his bed or something."

I knew he was right. Even if I would break Chuck's heart later, at least he'd be alive. I didn't want it to be my fault that he wasn't getting better. I wanted him to get better. This was the only thing to do.

"Anyways," Nate added as an afterthought. "If he does find out after he's better, it doesn't really matter. You hate him."

"Why does everyone think I hate him?" I asked angrily.

"Because he did some pretty terrible things, and you told him that you never wanted to see him again?"

"Yes, but that was before!" I said impatiently.

"Before what?" Nate said softly. "Before he got shot? It doesn't change anything. He still did those things, and you still never want to see him again. This will all wear off, eventually…after he's better, you won't feel the same way you may think that you do now. You may not be ready to forgive him after all."

"So you don't want me to forgive him?"

"No…I do. I just don't want to see either of you get hurt."

"What makes you think one of us will get hurt?"

"I know you. And I know Chuck. The two of you are a match made in hell; you love each other more than anything, yet you're the worst possible person for each other."

"I don't love Chuck," I denied half-heartedly. "So you think we're terrible for each other yet you're asking me to pretend to be in love with him again?"

"Blair, I want you and Chuck to get back together. But not really, not yet. Maybe later you'll both be done playing games, and then you'll be the perfect pair. No more suffering. But right now…right now I just need you to pretend. So, will you?"

"Fine," I huffed. "Fine. I'll play your little game."

Nate smiled. "That's all I wanted to hear."

**So this is probably my least favorite but I still like it. Think **_**She's All That, **_**kind of. Things will get pretty messy. **

**Choice #3 **

**Blair **

"Blair, I'm kind of busy right now," Serena said into the phone.

"But this is important!" I whined.

"What is it?" she said, exasperated.

"It's about Chuck. It's about me too. It's about us."

She hesitated.

"We could get coffee, maybe, then we could talk. But only for half an hour! I have a lot of stuff to do today!"

Normally I would have asked what she had to do, but today I didn't. I was too distracted.

"Okay. Meet me in ten."

I hung up. I didn't say where we were meeting, because I knew that she would already know to go to our favorite coffee shop.

Ever since the night before, I had been thinking about what had happened with Chuck. I could barely think, though-there were too many thoughts rushing through my head. I needed to figure this all out, and I knew that I couldn't do it alone. I needed to talk to Serena.

I set out to meet Serena.

**Chuck **

Nate still wasn't home. But I didn't want to get Nate in trouble by calling Lily or Serena to come over, and I didn't think Blair wanted to come back. At least for a while. And anyways, I didn't need to be babysat. I was fine by myself. I wasn't going to explode just because I didn't have someone watching me every second. It seemed like that was what everyone thought, though. I understood why Nate wanted me watched, of course…but he didn't need to worry so much. I was fine. And evidently, he didn't care too much about having me watched…after all, where was he now, when he was supposed to be with me? He was gone.

Oh well. It's not like I cared.

But I wished that Blair were still here. I wished I could call her. But it would just be too awkward right now. It was too soon. And I didn't want her to think I was lonely, or needy, or something.

But I wanted to talk to her about what had happened. About what it meant for us. I was telling the truth when I said that I loved her. Everything I said had been true. If she believed me, and if she loved me too…then maybe she would consider getting back together sometime in the future. Maybe she would at least consider trying it out.

Maybe I should call her. If I didn't now, then it may be too late…Blair was a pretty girl. A beautiful girl. There's a ton of guys who would love to be with her. And I had to show her that I was the one to choose before it was too late.

I dialed the number, and then pressed send before I chickened out.

It rang once.

I waited.

It rang again.

And again.

And again.

It rang and rang, but she didn't answer.

I let out a deep breath, feeling relieved almost, but disappointed too. Was she ignoring my calls?

Finally, I got the answering machine.

"Hi, it's Blair. Leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can!"

"Blair. It's Chuck. Look, about last night…I'm really sorry. But everything I said was true. I think we need to talk. Look, I'm not really supposed to travel too much, but I can make an exception. Why don't we meet in an hour at the pond? I hope you can come. I'll see you there."

I hung up, feeling a little nervous.

I hoped she would come. If she got the message soon, then she probably would. She'll want to settle things between us two.

So in a little over an hour, I may finally know for sure how she feels about me.

**AN: This is probably my second favorite. This story will probably be shorter, though. Maybe only 2 more chapters after this one. Idk yet. This choice (well what happens later) was inspired by something that happened to my sister and her boyfriend. It will be a little suspenseful. **

**So, that's all! Review and tell me what you think! If you have any ideas, you can write those in a review too and I'll also consider those ideas! Once I choose, if you guys want to hear what would have happened with the other choices that didn't win, I may tell you my ideas for them. Oh yeah and obviously I decided to keep the Georgina part in the story. **** Hope you guys don't mind! Oh yeah and I think 'I'm mixing up past and present tense and changing them in the wrong places, but for now I just want to get this chapter up. I'll try to make the next chapter better with that. **

**Thanks for… **

**Reviewing: ronan03, HnM skinnys, RomanticSoul693, GoodGoodgoodd, amanda, and Kiiskam **

**Story Alert: LisaLevine **

**Thanks! **

**Please review! **

**I'll update next probably the 22****nd**** or the 23****rd****! (Sorry-I'll be on vacation until then! But after that I'll be home for the rest of the summer!) **


	10. Not Again

**AN: I'm back! I missed you! And the votes are in! Thank you to everyone who voted! I'm really sorry if the choice that's picked isn't the one you wanted, or even if it was the one you hated, but I had to go with what the majority of the readers thought. Here are the votes: **

**Choice 1: 12 **

**Choice 2: 9**

**Choice 3: 4**

**And the winner is…choice number 1! **

**Oh, and sorry, I think option 3 was a bit unclear. If you guys want to know what would've happened in choice 2 and 3, write it in a review and I'll summarize it in the next post. **

**It's weird, cuz I didn't like choice 2 at first, but over my vacation, I planned out what would happen, and it ended up being my favorite, so I kinda wish you guys chose that one now. But I knew when I gave you guys options that I had to be ready to accept the result, so it's okay. I've decided that I don't like option 3 as much because it's shorter and I don't want the story to end. As for option 1, I still like it, though not as much as I did. I realized that a lot of the things I had planned out didn't make much sense and I had to fix it. But I've got everything worked out now, and the votes are in, and choice 1 has won! I'm going to warn you guys though, it will be a bit different than your normal episode of **_**Gossip Girl**_**. **

**Chapter 10**

**Blair **

I was stepping out of the hotel when I realized-I'd forgotten my purse.

I rushed back in and ran to the elevator. I pressed the button a few times and waited, but the elevator didn't come. I checked my watch again. I was going to be late for my mom's photo shoot she wanted me to see.

I looked at the door to the stairs. If I took the stairs, would I end up in Chuck's apartment before I would if I took the elevator? Probably not. He did, after all, live on the top floor. But the elevator was taking so long…

But he'd probably noticed that I'd left my purse. He'd be expecting me at the elevator. If I took the stairs, I could just slip in without him noticing…yes, that would be better. I opened the door and ran.

**Chuck **

I froze.

My first thought was "Not again".

My second was "I'm going to die".

But I waited and no shot came.

"Wh-who are you?"

His grin widened.

"That doesn't really matter, does it? It's who you are that matters."

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"I talked to your friend, Carter Baizen?"

"He's not my friend," I said quickly.

"Well, he's not a very good one, anyways, evidently, since he sent me here."

"Baizen sent you here?" I asked, confused.

"He told me all about how you have the diamond."

"What diamond?" I questioned. I was getting more and more confused, but it seemed that the longer I kept him talking, the longer I would live, and the more time I would have to think of a way out of this situation.

"Don't play dumb. I know the truth. After Baizen stole it, he gave it to you."

I groaned. Why did Carter have to use my name? I hated the guy, but all I'd ever done to him was to get him out of sticky situations.

"And after the idiots that work for me got scared and shot you, instead of taking you to me-"

"Those guys work for you?" Anger overthrew my fear.

"-and then they thought the diamond was in that box, but when it wasn't they were still happy enough with the ring that they took it and ran…they figured they'd have to hand it over to me once I got you to tell me about it…they ran, leaving you alone, letting you get away…it's my fault really…for hiring street thieves…"

"What do you want from me?" I asked quietly.

"Why, the diamond, of course. And revenge."

I would have given them it, if I had it. I would've given them the money for it, but I didn't know how expensive it was, and I didn't have the money anyways. Lily had closed my bank account. But you didn't tell the guy with the gun pointed at your head that you didn't have what they want.

I could be defiant. But I didn't want to make this guy angry. That would not be smart. I could run-but to where? And how? I couldn't even get up out of this stupid wheelchair.

I could tell him that I had it…he probably would make me show it to him, though. Maybe I could lead him somewhere, where there were a lot of people.

"I have it," I said quietly.

"That's better," he sneered. "Where is it?"

"I…I can bring you to it."

"Why not just tell me where it is?"

"It's complicated. The directions would be too complicated."

"So, what, we get out there and you start shouting for help? No way."

"I won't do that."

"How do I know?"

He thought for a moment.

"You lead me to it," he finally said. "But I'll be behind you the whole time with this."

He gestured to his gun.

"One wrong move and…"

He didn't need to finish the sentence. I got the idea.

I agreed, but now I had no idea how to get out of this one.

We walked to the elevator, his gun on my back, but concealed with his coat.

My mind was racing. What could I do?

We stepped into the elevator and I pushed my wheelchair back and spun around, trying to take the gun or at least move it. It was a stupid move, and a desperate one. But I had to do something. I was now out of my wheelchair and I didn't feel too great, but this was no time to be complaining about my injury.

He was caught by surprise. The gun fell to the floor. We dove for it. We both grabbed it and fought for it. I thought I heard a noise from somewhere else in the room. It sounded like footsteps. I looked up and saw no one, but the guy took this opportunity to shoot. It didn't hit me, since it wasn't pointed straight at me since we were fighting for it, but it was a narrow miss. The footstep sounds stopped.

"Chuck?" someone called. _Blair._

I looked up. I wanted to call back, tell her to run away, to get help, or something. But her voice had distracted me and the man wrenched the gun out of my grasp. I tried to get up but it was too hard to support myself.

He raised his gun.

He pressed the trigger.

Nothing happened.

He pressed it again, and still, nothing happened.

It had run out of ammunition.

We both looked at it for a moment. Then he swung the gun at my head.

I blacked out.

**Nate **

"Serena, I'm still not sure if this is a good idea."

"Trust me, Nate!" Serena whispered exasperatedly. "I know what I'm doing. And quiet down! We don't want them knowing that we're coming."

She knelt down and lifted the floor mat, picking up the key beneath it.

"Tell me again why we're doing this?" I whispered.

"We need Georgina's cell phone. We can check her texts, first of all, and maybe see if this baby is legit. And we can get her doctor's number and maybe get some information out of him too," she responded.

"All right, fine," I agreed.

"Now, don't forget the plan," she whispered. "If they come in let me know and I'll come up with a cover story."

"I know, I know!" I whispered.

She put the key in the lock and turned it slowly. We opened the door slowly and only a little so that it wouldn't creak.

Thankfully, they weren't in the living room or the kitchen. Even luckier, Georgina's purse was on the kitchen counter.

"You keep a look out," Serena hissed, spotting the purse. She ran to it and started rummaging through it. I looked around and kept lookout for a moment, but it didn't last long.

"Hey, Dan!" I said loudly, trying my best to cover up Serena.

"Nate…" he said, sounding confused. "Serena…what are you two doing here?"

"I just forgot my purse," Serena said, holding up her purse. I looked back at her, and I was glad to see that Georgina's purse looked untouched, the same as it had looked before Serena had looked through it.

"I remembered you had a key under the doormat, and I didn't want to disturb you and Georgina. I know she needs her rest, being pregnant and everything." Serena elaborated.

Dan nodded but didn't look completely convinced. "So, I've got my purse, and Nate and I-" She gave me a pointed look. "-are late for something. So we've got to go. It was nice seeing you!" She threw the key to him. He caught it, still looking a bit confused.

Serena got my arm in a claw grip and led me out of the loft. When we were out of the building we finally spoke.

"That was a close one," I commented. "Too bad we didn't get her cell."

But Serena was smiling. She took a cell phone out of her purse and waved it in front of my face.

"I wouldn't be so sure," she said, her smile growing.

**Blair **

I heard the gunshot. And it was like a knife in my heart.

"Chuck?" I called.

My heart was racing. Why had I heard a gunshot? Who was shot?

Chuck was home alone, as far as I knew.

Which meant…I didn't want to think about what the gunshot could mean. I just ran. I ran over to where I had heard the shot and I saw a strange man I didn't recognize holding a gun, standing over-

It felt like my heart had stopped beating when I saw Chuck sprawled on the floor, his legs sticking out of the elevator.

I looked back and forth from the man pointing the gun at Chuck and Chuck on the floor.

"No," I whispered. I put my hand up to my face. He couldn't be…it wasn't true, this was not happening right now…because Chuck Bass, the love of my life, was _not_ dead. He couldn't be.

Yet there he was, and even though I didn't want to believe it, I knew it must be true.

I looked up at the man standing above him. My appearance had taken him by surprise, but I could see that that was quickly wearing off.

I ran at him. It was reckless, but I wasn't thinking straight-all I knew was that this man had killed Chuck, and he was going to pay. I wasn't a violent person, but as I ran at this man I wanted to rip him apart, piece by piece.

The man seemed to regain himself and he pulled Chuck's legs into the elevator and pushed a button. The doors started to close.

But I was too fast. I ran into the elevator at the last moment and jumped at him, knocking him over, sending his gun flying.

I started hitting him, over and over again, but not for long. I wasn't the strongest person in the world. Our positions were quickly switched and he grabbed his gun again and put it against my head.

"Who are you?" he asked first.

I didn't say anything. I just squirmed to try to get free.

"Who are you?" he repeated himself, jamming the gun more against my head.

"Jenny Humphrey," I squeaked. There was no way I was telling this guy my real name, and it was just the first name that came to mind. For a fleeting second, I worried that he would end up tracking down Jenny later and hurting her. But I quickly dismissed the thought-what did I care about what happened to Jenny Humphrey? And anyways, once he saw her it'd be obvious that it wasn't me. I don't have raccoon eyes or bleached blonde hair.

"How do you know Bass?" he asked.

"He's my fiancé." I said, again saying whatever came into my head.

"Do you know about the diamond?" he asked.

The diamond…I had no idea what he was talking about. I looked at Chuck. Maybe he wasn't dead yet-I just needed to get him to a hospital as soon as possible.

We were just stuck in this elevator for now. We hadn't pressed a button for a floor so it wasn't moving at all.

"Yes," I said quietly, a little hesitantly.

"What?" he asked menacingly.

"Yes, I know about the diamond!" I said louder.

"Where is it?" he asked.

"It's in a safe," I said, making stuff up on the spot.

"It better not be 'downstairs'," he said. "I already fell for that once; I'm not falling for it again."

"No, it's not…" I said, improvising. "It's…it's in the hotel room."

Maybe in the hotel room I could get away and call the police or the front desk, or maybe Nate would show up, or something.

He pressed the "door open" button.

"Lead the way," he said, gesturing towards the room as the door opened.

"Move him first," I said, pointing to Chuck, trying not to look at him anymore. It just made me more upset. "Bring him in, and let me see the damage. Then I'll show you where the diamond is."

He laughed, but it was an eerie, creepy laugh that I didn't like the sound of at all.

"You don't set the rules. I do."

I glared stubbornly at him.

"So, where is this so called 'safe'?" he asked.

Unable to help myself, I looked at Chuck. I wanted to cry. I had no idea what to do. This was no catfight with Serena, no issue at NYU, no drama with Nate and Chuck…this was real life. No, this was worse. Chuck was dead, or dying, and it was inevitable that I'd be going to same way as him. I knew it, he knew it, so why was I pretending that I knew anything about this diamond? I had no idea what he was talking about. I couldn't tell him where the safe was. I couldn't think. This was one problem that, no matter what, I wouldn't be able to solve. I tried to find some strength, some idea, by looking at Chuck, but it just made me feel more hopeless.

I couldn't stand it any longer. I had to see if he was okay. I tried to run to him, but the man held out a hand to stop me.

"There is no safe, is there?" he asked.

I squeezed my eyes shut and slowly shook my head. I suspected that he'd known all along. He'd just been playing along. This was just a game to him. Why did everything in my life have to be a game? I was bound to lose a few. But what happened when the one I lost happened to be the one where the stakes were higher, where I was betting my life on the outcome?

It's be the last game I ever played in, I told myself. That's what would happen.

I opened my eyes and slowly looked up. He got a gun out of his jacket, but it was different than the one I'd seen him pointing at Chuck. This seemed strange to me, but I was in no condition to try to figure it out. I was scared. I didn't know what to do. I had more pressing worries. For example, the guy trying to kill me and my ex-boyfriend. Or the guy who had killed my ex-boyfriend. But I didn't want to think that.

I stepped back.

"Do you even know where the diamond is?" he asked quietly.

I shook my head again after a moment.

"Do you even know what I'm talking about?" he asked more quietly still.

I shook my head a third time.

"How do you really know Bass here?" he inquired. "You've lied about everything else, why not that?"

"I'm his ex-girlfriend." I said quietly.

"Ex? Why were you here then?"

I sighed. "It's a long story. It's complicated…you wouldn't understand."

Anger flashed across his face for a moment. I'd forgotten who I was talking to. This wasn't Serena or one of my minions; this was a cold blooded killer.

But he quickly recovered.

"Try me," he said.

"Long story short, we broke up because of something he did, then we got back together, then he did something else and we broke up, then he took off and got shot. Why do you even want to know?"

"You didn't answer my question. Why are you here today?"

"I was looking after Chuck while he was recovering, then I left, but I forgot my purse."

I couldn't really think of anything but to tell the truth at the moment. I was just answering his questions automatically. I couldn't force myself to come up with a story.

"Well, I don't know anything about the ring, so I think I'll just go…" I said hopefully. I needed to get away, then I could get help.

"Not so fast," he said. His gun was still pointed at me. "You know too much. You'll have to go."

My eyed widened. But it wasn't because I had a gun pointed at me, or even because the man in front of me just told me that he was going to kill me. It was because I'd just noticed Chuck right behind the man, standing unsteadily and holding up a gun, the same one that had been pointed at him earlier.

The man saw where I was looking and tried to turn around, but it was too late; Chuck had swung the gun across his head, and the man fell to the floor.

Chuck looked up at me.

"He shouldn't have taught me that one," he said grimly.

**AN: Hope you enjoyed it! **

**Thanks for… **

**Reviewing: .Whitlock., HnM skinnys, RomanticSoul693, mrschuckbass94, ana-12, awakeningezgi, Cblover1995, weasleywarrior, bj188, dropdeaddesiree, chairlover19, ronan03, missy, onelessthan3you, voguelover1996, Bassisbeast1, sunshinelollipopsrainbows, Chair, rose, bellinhaborges, 2010blueberry **

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**Thank you to everyone who reviewed and voted! You're amazing! **

**Oh and I'm really sorry that it's a little late…it was finished yesterday but it was late and I had to edit it so I went to bed and then I had to work then I edited it and posted it! But I'm sorry! **

**I'm actually not a huge fan of this chapter, I don't think it was written very well, but I was in a bit of a rush since I wanted to get it in as quickly as possible since I hadn't posted in a while. Hopefully the next one will be better. **

**Oh and you may have noticed I didn't do a gossip girl post in this one. This is because I kind of suck at them. So I might stop, unless you guys want me to continue. Another alternative would be for one of you to write a short one about something that happened in the last chapter and write it in a review and then I could use it (but I'd give all credit to whoever wrote it, of course!) because you guys are probably way better at them than I am. I'll continue writing them though if you want. **

**Please review! **


	11. Running in Heels Again

**Chapter 11 **

**Chuck **

"Chuck!" Blair said in relief, and she ran to me and threw her arms around me, almost knocking me over. Hesitantly, I wrapped my arms around her too.

"I was so worried," she said into my shoulder. "I thought you were dead."

"Why would you think that? I was fine."

"Except for the fact that you weren't moving and that a guy was standing over you with a gun. You don't understand, when I saw you there…" she trailed off.

"Shh. It's okay. I'm fine now."

I patted her back awkwardly.

"Oh my god," Blair said, quickly letting go of me and looking down at the man on the floor. "What are we going to do? This guy's trying to kill us, we have to do something, call someone, get out of here-I mean, he could wake up any second and we'd both be dead, we have to go-"

She said this all very quickly and started pacing, her eyes wide with anxiety.

I felt a little weak from standing for so long, so I sat down on the couch.

She suddenly stopped pacing and looked at me.

"We have to call the cops."

"Blair, we can't," I responded uneasily.

"What do you mean, we can't? Why not?"

"If we go to the police, everyone will find out. You don't understand how well-known I am, how closely the public watches me. It will become a huge deal-"

"It is a huge deal." Blair cut in.

I ignored her and continued. "People might think I actually did steal this diamond. It could ruin everything I've worked for."

"So you care more about your reputation than your life?" Blair said incredulously. "Chuck, I don't think _you_ understand. You could die. _I _could die."

I didn't answer. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to say.

Blair sighed again. "So we're back at this again. I know that you still love me."

I looked down uncomfortably. I hated how she had so much control over me, how she could just casually wave around how much I loved her when she didn't feel the same way.

"Yet you're about to make the same mistake. Today, you claimed that you care more about me than your hotel. Last time you were too stupid to realize you would lose me. Don't be like that this time. This guy could wake up right now and kill me, and you'll lose me for good. Do you really want to sacrifice me for the hotel?"

I was pretty sure that she was just saying that to guilt me into letting her get her way, but she still was right. I didn't want to leave her in any doubt which was more important-her or the hotel.

"That's not what I meant." I said quickly. "Of course I don't."

"Then we have to go to the police," she insisted. "It's the only way."

"We can't do that."

"What else would you suggest?" she asked coldly.

"I don't know! I'll figure something out." I tried to convince her.

"We don't have time for that!" she said angrily.

"Blair, please just leave. You're right; I don't want you to die because I didn't go to the cops. I don't want to put your life at stake here. I'll stay, and figure something out."

"You're still putting your life at stake."

"It's okay. I'll be fine." I lied. Who knew if I'd be okay? I'd try my best, and I'd probably figure something out, but I couldn't guarantee anything. But Blair…I couldn't let anything happen to her. I couldn't let my mistakes hurt her again. I just needed her to leave, before I was too late.

"How do I know that?" she asked.

Now, instead of sounding frustrated and urgent like she had a moment before, she looked small and scared like she had when she had hugged me. I tried not to look too happy that she was so worried.

"I promise I'll be fine," I told her.

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Bass," said a third voice behind me.

I got up whipped around and saw a new group of people coming out of the elevator. Screw resting on the couch. I couldn't defend myself and Blair sitting down, even if the doctor had told me to stay in a wheelchair for now. I would just have to ignore any pain or weakness I felt, because at the moment there were more important things.

"We would've been here sooner," one grunted. "Except it seemed someone else was using the elevator."

His eyes moved from me to the man on the floor.

"Interesting," he said. "Very interesting…"

I didn't say anything. I didn't think I'd be able to even if I wanted to. I edged, a little unsteady on my feet, closer to Blair.

I finally found her arm. "Blair…" I said quietly, so that the others wouldn't hear me. "I'll be fine. But you can't stay here. So I need you to do something…"

The man saw me talking to her. His eyes narrowed.

Blair's eyes flickered away from the men to me, looked extremely anxious.

"Run."

**Blair **

I didn't need to be told twice. I was worried about Chuck, but I didn't care what he said, going to the police was the best-the only-thing to do in this situation. I needed to get help, and fast. No matter what Chuck said, he couldn't handle this on his own. The only way to get to the police before it was too late would be to leave. Now.

The elevator wasn't a very good escape. I knew my only way out was to take the stairs back down. I didn't really want to go back down those stairs after I had climbed all the way up them, but I had no choice. It was that or be caught.

I ran towards the stairwell and started down the stairs. I could hear footsteps behind me, but I didn't dare turn around. It sounded like about half of them had followed me and half had stayed with Chuck. I guess if I had thought about it I would have expected them to follow me-they couldn't let anyone report them. But that didn't stop me from being scared as I barreled down the steps with a few gunmen at my (high) heels.

"Somebody help!" I yelled. "Please! Somebody help me!"

I wanted to make as much noise as possible so that even if they caught me maybe someone would find them and me before it was too late.

"Anybody! Help!"

They were gaining on me. A hand tried to grab my arm but I wrenched it away quickly.

I was trying as hard as I could to run as fast as I could without tripping.

But the men behind me were much faster.

And they weren't wearing 4-inch heels.

But I didn't have time to take my heels off.

I ran and ran down the steps, stumbling a little but doing my best to stay upright, still yelling and screaming.

"Somebody-" I tripped.

It felt like it was in slow motion. I started to fall slowly and then finally I hit the ground.

I fell down the steps, tumbling down, down, down…

**Serena **

We were back in my room. I was scrolling through Georgina's texts.

"It's mostly just stupid stuff to guys. Barely any of them even mention the baby, and if they do, it's just in passing, nothing about it being a plot."

"Maybe it's not a plot," Nate reminded me, but I knew that he was wrong.

"I know Georgina, remember?" I said impatiently. "And there is no way that this is real."

"Serena…don't you think that maybe you could be a little biased here?"

I opened my mouth to argue but Nate quickly continued before I could protest.

"I know Georgina did a lot of terrible things to you, but that doesn't mean that everything that she does is a scheme. She was probably even more surprised and upset than you are when she found out about this baby."

"So you're siding with her?" I questioned angrily.

"No! No. It's just that I think you should keep your mind open to the possibility that she's telling the truth."

"Fine." I huffed. "I'll 'keep my mind open to the possibility', or whatever. But there's a chance she could be lying-a very big chance-so I just want to check and see."

Nate hesitated. "Fair enough," he decided.

"Can we continue now?" I inquired impatiently.

"Sure."

"There's only one doctor in here, so I'm guessing that that's her doctor." I said, consulting Georgina's contact list.

"So…what should we do? It seems kind of weird to just call him." Nate pointed out.

"Maybe we can pretend we're setting up some kind of appointment." I suggested.

"But what if this is her doctor's personal number? Even if it's not, it specifically has him under Dr. something on her phone, right?"

"Yeah."

"So it's probably a number that he gives his patients. Since you're not one of his patients, calling might lead to awkward questions."

"I'll just tell him that Georgina is a friend of mine and that she gave me this number."

Nate still looked skeptical.

"It'll be fine!" I assured him.

I copied the number into my phone (it would be weird to call from Georgina's phone, because it would be strange that I wasn't Georgina and that I was calling from her phone instead of mine) and called him.

I put it on speaker.

"Hello?" a man picked up on the first ring.

"Uh, Hi. My name is-"

I looked at Nate and covered the part that you talked into on my cell phone, panicking. Why had I called without thinking of a fake name first? If this guy thought I was pregnant like Georgina, and I told him who I was, it could get out and people would think I was pregnant. I was pretty well known, and the news could be a big deal. Everyone would find out. I didn't know this guy. I couldn't trust him with a secret, even if it wasn't true.

"April Walsh." Nate said quietly.

"-April Walsh." I said, taking my hand off the phone first. "My friend, Georgina Sparks, recommended me to you?"

"Ah, yes," the doctor responded. "But I'm surprised she gave you this number instead of the office number."

Nate gave me a look that said "I told you so."

"Yes, well, she thought this would be more private. Can I set up an appointment?"

"Sure…I think I have an empty slot this weekend, but you'll have to talk to someone at the front desk. They're closed now, but you can call tomorrow from eight in the morning until 9 at night. Tell them you need to set up an appointment with Dr. Bob Grawen for this weekend and that he said it's okay."

"Okay! Thank you." I said, and I hung up.

"Well, that was easy enough," I commented.

"Serena, what are you even going to do at the appointment?"

"Who's April Walsh?" I asked, ignoring him and avoiding the question.

"Oh she's just this girl I met at Columbia." Nate explained quickly, not easily distracted.

I raised my eyebrows.

"She's just a friend."

"Okay," I said, trying to think of a new topic that would distract Nate from the question that he had asked me about what I was going to do at the appointment. But I didn't think of one in time.

"What are you going to do at this appointment?" Nate asked.

"Don't worry, Nate, I've got it all figured out," I assured Nate, smiling.

I think that Nate knew I was lying, but luckily he didn't press the matter.

But now I couldn't stop thinking about it. Because the truth was, I had no idea what I was going to do. I was just surprised that everything had worked out so far-I hadn't planned this far ahead. I knew what information I needed to get. But I had no idea how I was going to get it. What would I say to this doctor?

I guess I would just have to wing it.

**Chuck **

"Blair!" I called as I heard the screams. I hated hearing them. But there was nothing I could do.

The men that remained were holding me back. I wanted to run after Blair, to chase the others away somehow, to help her, but I couldn't.

Even if I could break free from these guys, there was no way I would be able to run. The guys holding me back were pretty much holding me up at the moment.

Even so, I struggled to try to get out of their grasp, but it wasn't working, and after a while I had to stop. It took too much energy.

There's nothing worse than listening to her screaming like this, unable to do anything, I thought.

That is, until I heard the screams stop, creating a sinking feeling in my stomach….

Because the only thing worse than hearing her scream was hearing her silent.

Because I knew better than to think that the absence of screaming meant that she didn't need to scream anymore.

Because her silence meant that she wasn't physically able to scream anymore.

**AN: Hey! So I hope you liked the chapter…I don't really have much to say. Except no one seemed to really object to there being no GG posts. I think I'm just going to do them sometimes, not for every chapter. Oh, and I'm sorry that this chapter is kind of short! **

**Thanks for… **

**Reviewing: chairobsesser, rose, ronan03, awakeningezgi, HnM skinnys **

**Story Alert: morganfarrell, Babygurl09, Taking Life One Leap At A Time **

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**Please review! **


	12. The Doctor's

**Chapter 12 **

_Serena with child? _

_I heard that Serena is making an appointment with a doctor that specializes in pregnancies._

_Hmm…is this for real, or is it just a rumor? _

_You tell me. _

_You know you love me._

_Xoxo, _

_Gossip Girl _

**Chuck **

I heard footsteps, getting louder and louder. I thought that the guys must be coming back up. But it soon became obvious that it was only one set of feet moving towards us.

Blair? Maybe she had shaken them off and come back up for me? But why would she come back up here, where there were more armed men, when I had just told her to run away?

Maybe it was a hotel employee who heard the noise?

Maybe it was Nate!

It had to be Nate, I thought. He was supposed to be here by now. He must've just been running late, and now he was finally here. But wouldn't he have taken the elevator?

Did no one take the elevator nowadays?

It was Nate. It would be Nate. And maybe he could run back down when he saw the scene and get help, or something.

It had to be him. Who else would it be?

But it wasn't Nate. Of course it wasn't Nate. When had anything ever gone the way I wanted to?

Well, actually, a lot of things. But it seemed like when it counted, it didn't go the way I wanted.

It was one of the men who had chased after Blair.

"Where is she?" I yelled when he came in. "What happened to her? What did you do to her? Where is she?"

I had a very sick feeling in my stomach and I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer.

"Don't worry, she's with us."

Like that would make me not worry.

"Well, she's with my friends, anyway. And they'll take good care of her. But only if you give us what we want."

"I don't have it!" I yelled desperately. "Carter was lying! I don't know what you expect me to do! I don't have the diamond! I don't even know what you're talking about! Just leave me alone."

"Oh but we can't just leave you alone. Because we think that it's not Carter that's lying. We think it's you."

I took a few deep breaths.

"Fine. Fine. I don't have it. You obviously don't want to believe that. So you can do whatever you want to me. But please, _please_," I begged. "Just leave Blair out of this."

"So Blair's her name, huh?" the man asked. "Well we really would, Mr. Bass. She's really very pretty. Seems like a nice enough girl. Can't imagine why she's hanging around you-"

Some of his friends laughed.

"-but we want this diamond back. And we know that hurting you to get it doesn't always end so well. So we try it anyways, but when an opportunity this good arises, we have to take it. Because it seems that people are more likely to give us what we want when we hurt the people that they love instead of them. Because then if the blade slips-"

He made a slashing motion across his neck.

"-on the person they love, and their whole little pathetic world comes tumbling down, the one to blame is themselves."

He was right. I would never forgive myself if she died or was even hurt at all by these guys because of me. And he knew it.

"So where is she?" I asked. "What can I do to get her back?"

He looked like he was resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

"You _know_ what we want."

"I can't give it to you," I said, growing more and more desperate. "I don't have it! Please, there must be something else."

"If you're not going to give it to us, then your girlfriend dies."

I didn't bother to correct him about Blair not being my girlfriend.

"We're going to meet up with her now. If you ever want to see her again, bring the diamond to the address that we'll text you."

One guy was already holding my phone and his and copying my number into his phone.

"Be there by 4 tomorrow. That should give you time to figure out what's important here."

They released me and started to leave. I fell to the floor.

"Don't bother running after us." The man commented, watching me struggling to get up again. "Your girlfriend will already be miles away by now with the rest of the guys."

I gave up and just sat there.

"Oh," one said, just as the elevator doors were about to close. "And if you call the cops, or backup, or bring anyone with you, we'll know. The second we find out, even if it's not until they're bursting through the door, you girlfriend's dead."

I watched the elevator doors close.

They were gone.

**Nate **

"And who's this?" the nurse asked Serena as she called her name. "You're not really supposed to have any friends with you in the room…"

"He's the father," Serena said quickly.

Honestly, I should have seen this coming. They wouldn't let me in if I was just a friend. But it still felt a little weird to hear Serena say that.

The nurse led us through a long hallway into a room at the very end.

"Dr. Grawen will be with you shortly," the nurse said, smiling.

She left.

We were both silent for a moment.

"Serena, are you sure you know what you're doing?"

She nodded.

The door opened and in walked a doctor who must have been Dr. Grawen. He was looking down at a clipboard as he closed the door behind him then turned around.

"Hello, April, my name is Dr. Grawen, if you forgot. Nice to meet you."

I almost held my breath as he looked up and held his hand out to shake Serena's.

They shook hands and I exhaled. It looked like Dr. Grawen didn't read many tabloids last summer.

"Nice to meet you too," Serena said, smiling.

She sat down.

"So." She said. "Georgina Sparks is a patient of yours."

"Yes," he said.

"And your patients are all pregnant? You deal with women who are going to have babies?"

He looked confused. "Yes…"

"No one with a fake pregnancy, right?"

"No…"

"So Georgina sparks is pregnant."

"Yes. You're friends with her. You already knew that she was pregnant…right?"

"Of course. I was just clarifying."

"What's going on, Miss Walsh? Or is it Mrs.?" He said, eyeing me.

"Oh, no, we're not married. He's just a friend."

"A friend you're having a baby with?"

"I'm not having a baby!" Serena said.

"What?"

"Oh, I mean, I am…" Serena looked flustered. She must've forgotten her cover story for being there…I was starting to think that she had come here with no plan at all.

"Miss Walsh, why are you here?" the doctor asked, sounding exasperated.

"I need to know if Georgina Sparks is really pregnant."

"I can't give out patient's information. I only answered your questions before because I thought you knew her. Clearly, I was wrong."

"So she isn't pregnant! And yes, I do know her."

"I didn't say that she wasn't. Now, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Wait!" Serena said as we were pushed towards the door. "So is she pregnant or not? It's really important that I find out! Because she's telling this guy that I really care about that it's his, and I just don't want him to get hurt, because, well, I've known him for a long time, and I really like him…"

She really liked him? That was news to me. Or maybe it wasn't…after she slept over his house the other week, it was only to be expected. Just because we were hanging out now didn't mean she liked me…she liked Dan. He had won. I had just been kidding myself to think that maybe she didn't have any feelings for him anymore. Because even though we'd broken up, I knew that I still had feelings for her. These last few days had been…amazing. I wasn't over her. I hadn't wanted to admit it to myself before, but I knew it was true now.

Serena avoided my eyes. "Please," she begged.

"Have you seen her lately? It's pretty obvious that she's pregnant."

"It might be a fake stomach."

"Look, if you don't believe me…" Dr. Grawen opened a drawer in a filing cabinet and took out a file.

"I'm not really supposed to show you those, but if it will make you leave…" He was holding out  
Georgina's ultrasound pictures.

Serena looked like she was going to cry. This was finally confirmation that this was all real, to her, and it was breaking her heart.

"I'm sorry, Miss Walsh," the doctor said at the look on her face. "But yes, it's real."

Serena turned and walked out the door. I nodded awkwardly at Dr. Grawen and then followed her.

"Well, that did the job, more or less," I commented when we got outside.

"Fine. I wasn't all that prepared. But it worked, right?"

"That's what I was saying-"

"You think I should've been more prepared."

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Well I'm sorry, Nate," Serena said, not sounding sorry at all. "But it's not like I asked you to help me."

"I wanted to. But then I found out that you've liked Dan, this whole time?"

"Why do you care? We broke up, remember? It's none of your business who I like and who I don't."

"Then why have we been hanging out so much lately?"

"Because we're friends! I'm sorry that I like hanging out with you! I thought that you were okay with us breaking up!"

"Why would you think that? You broke up with me!"

I lowered my voice. "Serena, you can't just break up with me and then expect me not to have any feelings for you anymore. I loved you. It's not easy hanging out so much, then hearing you say you love another guy! The same guy that you cheated on me with, who also happens to be a friend of mine!"

"I'm sorry. I thought that this could work." Serena said quietly.

"Well, you were wrong."

"So I guess this is it? We're not even going to be friends?"

"We tried it. And it didn't work. Maybe we just need a little time apart, to think."

Serena nodded.

"Bye, Nate." She said.

"Bye."

I watched her walk away.

My phone vibrated. I took it out of my pocket to see that Chuck had texted me.

_Buy me a cane, _it said. _I'll pay you back. I'm serious. I need it. Now. Be here soon. _

A cane? Chuck really wasn't supposed to walk yet. But he sounded serious. Maybe I would just get it, then see why he needed it. It sounded urgent.

Besides, it wasn't like I had anything else to do now. I didn't really know where to find a cane, but I'd figure it out.

_Okay, _I texted back.

**Serena **

My phone rang once I was a few blocks away.

"Hello?" I asked, a little angrier than I meant to.

"Serena?" It was Eleanor Waldorf.

"Oh, sorry, Eleanor, I've just had a tough day."

"It's all right. I'm calling you to ask if you've seen Blair lately. She promised to come to my fashion show last night, then she didn't show up. I called her, but she didn't answer. I'm a little worried about her. Have you heard from her?"

"Oh, she's probably still at Chuck's."

"Chuck's? I thought they broke up?"

"Well, they did, but we need someone to stay with him at all times."

"Why, is he suddenly an axe murderer or something?"

"Blair didn't tell you?" I asked in surprise.

"Tell me what?"

"Chuck was shot. He wanted to continue staying at the hotel, so we have to have people making sure he's okay."

"Oh…that's terrible…but I still think Blair would have called."

"Maybe she got distracted." I said. Being with Chuck could definitely distract her from other things. "And I don't think that anyone else was free to watch him. So maybe she had to stay and just forgot to call."

"Alright," Eleanor said. "Well, let me know if you hear from her."

She hung up.

Now that I thought about it, I should probably go check on them.

**Chuck **

"So, what did you need the cane for?" Nate asked as he walked in, carrying a cane.

"Thank you," I said, walking over (with a bit of difficulty) to him and taking the cane.

It was much easier to walk with it, but it still wasn't as easy as normal walking had been before my injury. And it seemed like something bigger, like a walker, would have worked better, but I wouldn't be able to move fast enough with something like that.

"I have to go. I'm going to be late," I walked towards the elevator, but Nate grabbed my arm to stop me.

"Late for what? You can't leave. There'll be paparazzi. And you're not supposed to be walking yet."

"Nate? What are you doing here?" Serena asked, coming out of the elevator.

"I live here," Nate reminded her. "What are _you_ doing here?"

I walked slowly over to the elevator, making it in without them noticing.

"I was just coming over to check on Chuck and Blair, if that's all right." Serena said. "I didn't know you'd be here. Where is Blair, anyway?"

She looked around. I quickly pressed the button for the lobby and the door close button.

Suddenly they noticed me leaving.

"Wait!" Nate rushed towards the elevator, but it was too late-the doors were closing and they closed completely before he could get in.

Once I was alone, I could worry in peace.

But I couldn't help wondering if that would be the last time I ever saw them.

**AN: I know that Nate and Serena's fight was a little bit like when Serena was talking to Dan in season 2 after they broke up and she said that she had loved him and that she couldn't just turn that off. It was also a little like when Vanessa and Nate were talking (this happened two times) and one of them said "So that's it? We're not even friends now?" and the other person would say "well we were never really friends in the first place." Also in season 2. I know all of this because my friend and I are rewatching all of the episodes with another friend who's never seen them before. So sorry if their fight was a little bit too much like some episodes in season 2. It's just a few lines that are similar. **

**Anyways, last night I stayed up until three in the morning writing. I finished this chapter and wrote two more. I finished the story, except for the epilogue. There'll be two more chapters after this and then the epilogue. It gets a little scary…well, I think so. But I think you guys can handle it. Sorry that people are always getting hurt in this story. I don't know when I'll post the next chapter. Probably tonight or tomorrow. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! **

**Thanks for… **

**Reviewing: ,rose, chairobsesser, ronan03, HnM skinnys, **

**Story alert: mel087 **

**The spaces in the reviewing part are intentional…someone reviewed with that as their name, and I just want to thank everyone who reviewed! **

**Thanks! Please review! **


	13. Fire

**AN: I'm going to warn you, this chapter is scary. Well, it's suspenseful at least. There's this one part near the end that's really bad…but don't read ahead! There'll be hints. It will almost happen a few times, then it really will. I did that partly to prepare you. I don't know how old you guys are. So just beware. I just want to warn you. If you don't want to read it, then stop before Chuck's point of view part, and write in a review that you didn't read the rest and I'll write back and summarize it for you. Enjoy! **

**Chapter 13 **

**Nate **

"We have to find him," I said urgently.

"Nate, why don't we just let him go? He'll be fine. He looked like he was walking okay. It'll be so difficult to find him, by the time we get downstairs he will have gone, and there'll be no way to force him to come back up here anyways..."

"No, no, you don't understand…this is bad…this is really bad…we can't let Chuck be on his own…"

"Why not? I know that you and my mom think that Chuck should have someone with him at all times, and I get it with my mom because she has really motherly feelings for Chuck, and he's family and all, but you? I don't understand why it's so important that he doesn't have a second alone."

"You don't understand."

"Then help me to."

I didn't answer.

"Nate, what were you going to say back in Paris, about Chuck almost falling out the window? You never told me…"

I paused before answering.

"That's why," I said quietly, sitting down on the couch and gesturing for Serena to do the same.

"What?"

"That's why he can't be alone. I'm worried about what he might do…"

"Why?"

"Because you were right. Chuck getting shot wasn't his fault. I mean, he shouldn't have fought those guys back, but it's still not really his fault. Some guys on the street shot him."

"I know. He told us and the police all about it."

"But I was right about him being so upset that he would do something like that. Maybe he wasn't quite in his right mind, because he was on a lot of drugs because he was so hurt, but that's really no excuse, no justification for…"

"For what? What are you trying to say?"

"He didn't fall out the window. He was trying to jump out of it."

"No…"

"He was, Serena. That's why I didn't come to get you guys immediately. I came in and he was leaning all the way out, seconds from falling, with the IVs torn out of him. I called his name and he turned, but by then it was too late, he had leaned too far…I caught him in time, but it was pretty scary. I asked him what he was doing, but then I realized how weak he was and helped him back into the hospital bed. Then Blair came in. I talked to him about it later, and he didn't seem too keen on the subject. He admitted that he had been trying to-well, you know-but it just slipped out. He was denying it at first. Then we got onto the topic of how he was shot, and then Blair woke up, and we'd barely talked about it. I never found out exactly why he did it, although I had a pretty good idea. We hadn't made any kind of agreement or understanding, and I was afraid that if he was left alone he would try to do it again. He's been fine since then, but I still haven't had much alone time with him to talk to him about it, and I still don't think it's a good idea for him to be alone, with the way he's feeling right now, and with his condition and everything. It's just not safe for him."

Serena had been silent throughout my explanation.

"Wow," she said finally. "I had no idea…"

"I don't think we should worry too much about it now, and you definitely shouldn't bring it up with him, but I just think that it's really important that we find him and bring him back here."

"I don't think we'll be able to."

We were both silent for a moment.

"Where's Blair?" Serena asked suddenly. "Wasn't she supposed to be watching Chuck right now?"

"Yeah," I said, confused too.

"Her mom said that she hasn't heard from her. And I don't think that she would just leave Chuck to be alone…unless they got in a fight or something…maybe that's where Chuck went? To find her and apologize, or something?"

"I don't know," I sighed.

"Maybe we should go check on Dan and Georgina," Serena suggested. "It'll be something to do while we wait for Chuck to come back. We can ask the doorman to call us when he comes back, or if Blair shows up."

"We?" I asked.

"Well, you don't have to come," Serena said quickly. "I mean, I can just-"

"No," I interrupted. "I'll come with you."

**Blair **

I woke up again, feeling very drowsy. I didn't know what they'd done to me, but I kept falling asleep…it could just be sleeping pills, or something worse…I wasn't really sure. My head was pounding, maybe from the fall. I had hit my head and then passed out after falling down the stairs.

Every time I woke up, I was in an empty room, alone, tied to a wooden chair.

I'd tried yelling, but no one had come to rescue me. And it had just made me more tired.

This time I wasn't alone, though. One of the men that had been in Chuck's hotel was in there with me, his back against the wall. He glanced up and saw that I was awake.

"3:50," he said. "Ten minutes left for you man to come and save you. Otherwise-"

He trailed off ominously.

I didn't say anything. I wanted to save my energy. I needed to stay awake for the next ten minutes. I needed to try to escape before they killed me. And I wanted to be awake if Chuck came…

But I didn't want to get my hopes up.

And I wasn't sure if I wanted Chuck to come. He didn't have what they wanted. He could get hurt, or killed.

Suddenly the door opened.

"Ah, Mr. Bass…I thought that I'd be seeing you soon…"

My head felt so heavy, but I lifted it to look up.

There he was, standing in the doorway. He walked in using a cane.

"Blair," he said, looking relieved that I was alive.

I looked at him drowsily.

"Chuck…" I said quietly, my head drooping. I brought it back up. I didn't want to miss any of this. My head just felt so heavy…and I was so tired…

Chuck looked concerned now, then angry. He turned to the man.

"What did you do to her?" he demanded.

The man just smiled and didn't answer the question.

"I'm sure you saw the men outside," he said. "If they see any cops, or they hear you trying to attack me, they come in. And they're armed. And there's only one exit anyway…when you try to get out, they'll be blocking the way. Now…the diamond?"

"I don't have it, as I've already told you," Chuck said. "Please, just release her, you'll be sorry if you don't…"

The man looked annoyed. "I'm not going to just let you two go free. And what are you going to do, hit me with your cane?"

My head dropped again. I needed a break.

"Just untie her at least. Tell me what you did to her. I'm here on time, you didn't have any right to hurt her…"

"Just give me the diamond and I'll let her go."

"I don't have it!"

"Maybe you need some…persuasion?" he said innocently.

With my head drooping, I couldn't see much, but I heard the sound of a match being lit and Chuck's sharp intake of breath.

I looked up a little, using all of my strength, just in time to see him bring the match towards my dress.

**Serena **

As the taxi pulled up to the building that Dan's loft was in, I saw Georgina resting outside against the edge of the building. Where was Dan?

I opened the door and I saw Dan running up to me.

"It's so good that you're here," Dan said in relief when he reached me. "Wait right here."

Nate and I exchanged a confused look as Dan rushed back to Georgina and helped her walk to the taxi.

"Do you want us to find another taxi?" I asked, seeing that we wouldn't all fit.

"Could you?" Dan asked, his eyes desperate and pleading.

"Sure," I said. "Come on, Nate…"

Nate and I got out and Dan helped Georgina in and then got in after her.

"Wait, Dan, what's going on?" Nate asked. "I thought that Georgina was on bed rest?"

Dan looked up at us.

"Georgina's water just broke," Dan said. "We're heading to the hospital."

"Well we're coming!" Serena said, quickly getting rid of the shocked look on her face. "We'll come in another taxi.

Dan nodded.

"See you soon," Serena said.

We hailed down a taxi and got in.

"See the cab in front of us? Well, that's our friends, and one of them is about to have a baby, and we need to go to the hospital with them," Serena told the driver.

He nodded.

"So…follow that cab!"

**Chuck **

I ran at him as best as I could with my cane, and pushed him away from Blair.

The match went out.

"Oh, so you want to play the hard way?" he said.

He pushed me down and whistled.

Two men came in and grabbed me. They brought me to the wall, where there were a lot of pipes, and tied my arms to the pipes. I struggled, but I was too weak and there were more of them than me.

They left as suddenly as they came, leaving me alone with the man and Blair.

"Now…where were we?"

He smiled and lit another match.

"Feel like giving me the diamond now?" the man said.

"I don't have it!" I insisted.

At my response, the man brought the match to Blair's dress. She squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself.

She didn't have to. It went out when it touched her dress.

"Maybe this will help." The man said.

I watched him pick up a red container from the floor and pour gasoline on her hair and dress. He then dropped the container and it spilled everywhere.

Then he lit the match again. And this time I knew that it had worked.

I couldn't watch this.

I needed to do something as I saw the small flame on her shoulder spread to her hair, then down her dress to her knees, then the chair…

Soon it was all just a blur of red and orange and yellow.

And the screaming…I couldn't listen to it.

I couldn't handle it.

I had to do something; I couldn't just stand by and watch the fire burn, like Blair wasn't in it…

I had to stop this.

She was going to let go soon. I knew she would.

It was too hard to fight. I knew that better than anybody.

Except that it was worse for her.

I wanted her to fight harder.

But in the end, the fire would still win. She could fight as hard as she wanted not to close her eyes, not to give up, but the fire would do it for her.

There wasn't much time left. I felt so helpless. But I was going to fight as hard as I could to stop this, even if there was really no way.

I started to struggle harder.

I pulled as hard as I could and the pipe came free, the ropes sliding off of it. I guess that the plumbing didn't work anymore, because the pipes didn't have any water in them.

I ran at the guy, grabbing my cane on the way. He looked completely taken by surprise. I hit him with my cane on the head, and he fell to the floor.

On another day, in another situation, that might have been funny.

But today? Not a chance.

I could feel the adrenaline coursing through me.

On a normal day I wouldn't have been able to break that pipe. Was this what they called an adrenaline rush? People could do crazy things like lift cars when they had an adrenaline rush if they were in a frightening enough situation.

The man seemed to have been knocked out.

With the man out of the way, I ran over to untie Blair next.

The ropes were half on fire, and it was spreading. My hands were burned as I untied her, but I didn't care. I knew that it was nothing compared to what she must be feeling.

I finally finished and I pulled her out of the burning chair, pushing the chair back. I felt the flames on my hands and I dropped her instantly, not meaning to, just as an automatic reaction. She fell onto the floor, eyes still open but unable to move.

But I'd forgotten that the gasoline was there. There was fire on the ground now, and the chair that I had pushed had run right into some wooden boxes next to the wall.

I pulled her over to an area that didn't have gasoline on it yet.

Stop, drop, and roll, I thought. Wasn't that what you were supposed to do when you were on fire?

But it wasn't me who was on fire. It was Blair. But she was in no state to do it herself.

I threw her to the floor and tried my best to roll her.

It wasn't working. There was too much fire. I knew that it was only a matter of second before she died.

Her hair had gone mostly out, which was one good thing. I pulled her dress off, and luckily the gasoline didn't seem to have reached her slip-the fire would be much easier to get out this way. I rolled her some more, and it went mostly out.

Finally, the fire was gone.

At least, it was off of her. The whole warehouse seemed to be on fire now. It wasn't very big, and I already was having trouble breathing with the smoke. I got as low as I could. I saw that the man was awake and crawling out the door, which had partly burned down. He pushed it and it collapsed. He got up and ran out.

I looked at Blair. I needed to know that she was all right.

"Blair," I said desperately. "Can you hear me?"

Her eyes were open halfway. I didn't know if she was awake. I didn't even know if she was alive.

"Chuck…" she said in a raspy voice.

"What is it?" I asked softly, relieved that she was still alive, but still worried.

I saw the raw, red, shiny burns all over her arms and legs…everywhere.

I saw the crinkly black ashes that covered a lot of her head…her hair.

I saw the sweat, and the tears.

But she still looked beautiful to me.

"Chuck…I….I…" she tried to take a breath but seemed to be having trouble. There wasn't much air left.

"I love you," she said quietly, and then her eyes closed, and she said no more.

**AN: **

**UPDATE: I took out Blair's point of view from the fire. I thought it was a little much. I think it's better to just have it from Chuck's POV. For those of you have already read it, not much has changed…we just don't hear from Blair what she's feeling. I thought that that would be for the better. **

**Well…I hope you liked it! I bet you all liked the last line…well what Blair says, not that "her eyes closed, and she said no more." I hope it was enough drama…I think it's safe to say that this was the climax of the story. Sort of. I mean, some of the next chapter is too, but then it dies down. This was the most exciting chapter. The pipes part reminded me a little of **_**Taken**_**…you know, when they tie the dad to the pipes and they're going to kill him but he ends up breaking the pipe and then water comes out and he ends up escaping? Pretty intense stuff. As you can probably tell, I love that movie. I'm not a huge fan of horror movies. I only like a few. They're so gory and I don't like them. I looooveeee suspense movies though, like Taken and Eagle Eye and stuff like that. Honestly though, if this story was a movie, I would not have been able to watch this last scene. Seeing someone on fire is really not my thing. **

**But writing about it…I mean, that's not really my thing either. But I did it anyway. **

**Wait have you guys ever seen the movie **_**Kick-Ass**_**? Well I just walked into the kitchen and saw the part where some guys were trying to set these two people on fire, they were tied to chairs and they poured gasoline on them…they only ended up setting one of them on fire though. It was still scary though. It was weird cuz I was just like seeing someone on fire isn't really my thing, and that I wouldn't like to watch it, then I did. It was also weird cuz I just wrote about that. That's really weird. I swear I'd never seen the movie before when I wrote that part. **

**Thanks for… **

**Reviewing: , HnM skinnys, cb, rose **

**And yes, once again, the spaces are intentional. **

**Please please please review! It's really quick! You just click review and then write it then submit it! It can be short! Pleaseee? I want your feedback! I love getting reviews! If you write fanfiction too you probably understand how awesome it is to get reviews, so please please review! **

**And sorry I didn't really give you much time to review, but if you have time, will you please review both chapters? Thanks! **


	14. Losing Love?

**Chapter 14 **

**Chuck **

"I love you too," I whispered, my voice breaking.

I picked her frail body up, carrying her to the door, trying to stay low while still standing.

I heard sirens in the distance. Or maybe not so far away…I couldn't really tell.

I carried her to the flaming door and out, careful not to let her touch any of the fire.

The men who had been at the door before were gone.

I kept walking until we were many yards away from the warehouse. I saw the paramedics and the firemen.

I walked to one of the ambulances and some of the paramedics.

"Save her," I tried to say. But nothing came out.

I didn't need to say anything, though. They took Blair and brought her into the ambulance. I could tell that everyone was rushing around and shouting things, but I couldn't hear a thing.

I tried to climb into the ambulance with them to sit next to Blair and make sure she was all right, but they didn't let me. They tried to lead me to another ambulance.

"No, I want to stay with her," I tried to tell them. But once again, nothing came out.

"Thanks for calling us, Mr. Bass. We've got all of the men. It's okay. It's over now." A policeman that had just walked over to me said.

"Thank you for not being seen," I wanted to say. But I couldn't speak. It was like I didn't have a voice anymore.

"But we need to take you to the hospital. We didn't know that it would get this serious…I know you want to stay with your friend, but right now we need to make sure that you're okay too."

I stumbled, the adrenaline gone, and I was put into another ambulance. I was too weak to fight them.

"Don't worry," the policeman said. "We'll take good care of her. And you too. It's all over. It'd going to be okay."

**Serena **

I was pretty annoyed.

"Serena, what did you expect? Did you really want to be in the room while Georgina gives birth?"

"No…I guess I just thought that we would be getting updated more frequently."

"Well there's only Dan and Georgina in there, and neither of them can come out and tell us about the progress. Georgina's having a baby, and Dan wants to stay with her."

"I know, I know," I said grumpily. I had spent way too much time in a hospital lately.

We had just gone down to the ground floor of the hospital, after waiting in the waiting room for hours. It felt nice to walk around a bit.

We got some coffee and sat down in some seats that we found.

Unfortunately, these seemed to be in between where the ambulances dropped off people and the emergency room. It wasn't fun to watch people with extreme injuries rushed in, but we didn't seem to be able to stop watching once we started.

"Oh my god, I think that one was stabbed!" I exclaimed in horror.

"Oh, look, there's one that's only a little kid, I wonder what happened to him…"

"I think that one just had a heart attack."

"That one was shot, look…" We were silent for a moment, and I knew that we were both thinking of Chuck. Which is why I was sure I was just imagining it when I saw him on the next stretcher, and oxygen mask covering the face that I knew belonged to my step-brother.

Nate and I looked at each other in shock and I knew that I wasn't imagining it.

We ran up to him. And the paramedics bringing him and another person in.

"Chuck!" I said, seeing that he was awake. "What happened? Are you okay?"

He nodded, but he looked too upset to be serious. He closed his eyes and jerked his head up, as if trying to point something out to me.

But all that was behind him was the other patient…wait…who was it?

Nate nudged me, looking at the other patient too.

"Blair," he said.

"Follow Chuck in," I said to Nate and dashed over to the other patient.

It was Blair. She was barely recognizable with red shiny skin everywhere and burnt hair and an oxygen mask identical to Chuck's, but I knew it was her. I would know my best friend anywhere.

"Blair!" I exclaimed.

But she didn't open her eyes.

I put my hand over my mouth and my eyes filled with tears. What was wrong with her? What had happened? Was she going to be okay?

I ran next to the paramedics, but still I could barely keep up.

They rushed into the emergency room and I followed them.

But they drew the line at the door into the hallway where they were taking patients.

"No visitors," they said, and my heart sank.

They only said that when it was really serious. Even with Chuck they had at least allowed family. But then again, Chuck had been stable then. He had been there for a little bit. Blair was just arriving.

I saw Nate beckoning for me to come in from the hall.

I checked to make sure no one was watching and slipped into the hall.

I ran up to Nate.

"They won't let me see Blair!" I said, on the verge of tears.

"Then just come with me to see Chuck. Maybe he can tell us what happened."

I followed him into a room. The paramedics had already put him into the hospital bed and gotten him set up. They left as we came in. They were replaced by another doctor.

"Chuck!" I rushed to his side. "Can he take the oxygen mask off for a second? Just to talk to us?" I asked the doctor in the room.

"I'm afraid not," he said. "You can stay if you really want to, but Mr. Bass will need to have that mask on for at least a half hour or so."

"Okay," I said. "We'll wait."

And so we sat by his side and waited.

**Chuck **

I woke up a little bit later. I didn't remember drifting off. The last thing I remembered was Serena and Nate coming into the hospital room.

I sat up. There was a nurse in there, and after noticing that I was awake, she pulled my mask off.

"You don't have to have that on for now. We may have to put it on again later, but for now you can talk to your visitors."

Visitors? I looked around and saw that Serena and Nate were sitting on either side of me. They were still there. They looked tired.

"Chuck, what happened?" Serena asked.

"Do you know how Blair Waldorf is doing?" I asked the nurse, ignoring Serena for the moment. There were more pressing matters.

"No, I'm sorry." She responded.

"Can I see her?"

"I can't let you get out of bed quite yet, Mr. Bass. And Miss Waldorf is still unable to have visitors. I'm sorry. You can be assured that she is in good hands, though."

I sighed.

"Chuck?" Nate pressed.

"It's all my fault," I whispered.

"What is?"

"I shouldn't have ever let her get involved…it seemed like there was nothing that I could do to stop it, but now…I should have tried harder"

"What do you mean?"

"She's going to die because of me." I whispered.

"Blair? Chuck, what happened? Please tell us. You're scaring me." Serena said anxiously.

"It's a long story," I said.

"We've got time," Serena said.

"Do you really want to know?" I asked. "The whole story?"

Serena and Nate nodded.

"The whole story," Serena said.

"Well, Blair was at my house last night and after Lily left, well, we…um…well, we had a sort of fight…well not really…but she left because…it was awkward after…never mind."

Nate and Serena exchanged confused glances.

"Look, all you need to know is that Blair left," I said. "So then…well, I guess that Carter had told these guys that I stole this diamond…I guess he stole it, and he was scared…he gave them my name.

"Carter told them that you'd stolen their diamond?" Serena asked.

"Yes. It was all a little confusing. So some words were exchanged, he threatened me, then Blair shows up. I don't know why, maybe she decided she shouldn't leave after all. I don't know. But we ended up knocking the guy out, then these other guys came, and I told Blair to run, and they caught her, this was yesterday, then they told me to meet this at this warehouse by 4 today with the diamond…they told me not to call the cops of they'd kill Blair…I'd told Blair earlier that I didn't want to call the cops. I didn't want the publicity it'd bring. But at that point I didn't know what else to do. I was so scared that the group would find out and kill Blair. Telling the cops to wait could have been the biggest mistake of my life. I told them to come in at a certain time…I wanted to make sure that they could get the guys outside without letting the guy with Blair and me know that they were there. I did it all because I wanted to protect her…it's weird how sometimes you try so hard to make sure something doesn't happen and then it happens anyway. After all of that, she might still…we might have lost her. I might have lost her."

"Chuck, what are you talking about?" Nate asked me. "What happened to Blair?"

"I didn't mean for it to happen…I hoped it wouldn't get that far…I didn't know that it would be this bad…It's all my fault. It should have been me instead."

"What happened?" Serena asked, sounding like she was afraid to hear the answer.

I hesitated. "It's better if you don't know," I said quietly. "I don't want you to ever have to see that image in your head…because if I tell you about it, that's all you think about…and when you see it…"

I closed my eyes. I wanted the image to go away, but I could still see it, that burning chair…the fire…I could still hear her screaming…

And it was all my fault.

"We want to know," Nate said firmly. "We have to. It sounds really serious, but we can't understand what's going on until we know. And we want to help both of you through it."

"But what if you can't?" I said quietly. "What if Blair doesn't get through it? What if…"

I trailed off.

"She'll be fine," Serena assured me.

"How do you know? You don't even know what happened," I said.

"Then tell us," Nate said.

We were silent for a moment. "Do you like fire?" I finally asked.

"I guess," Nate said.

"I like it when it's in a fireplace," Serena said slowly. It sounded like she was starting to figure out what had happened.

"I don't. I didn't have a problem with it before, but now…" I said, trailing off.

Serena opened her mouth to ask me exactly what happened, then seemed to think better of it. She seemed to know that I didn't want to say it. And I knew that she was afraid of hearing it aloud. Because then it would mean that it had really happened.

And if it had really happened, then we would all start to think about how someone who went through that wouldn't, couldn't survive.

I knew that because I couldn't say it for that same reason.

But there was the tiniest chance, the smallest sliver of a chance, that she'd live.

And that's what I clung to. It's what kept me going.

"I fought. I tried to save her. But we were both tied up. I tried…"

"So what happened then?" Serena asked, sounding scared.

"I broke the pipe I was tied to. I guess I had some sort of adrenaline rush. I knocked the guy out with my cane, then untied Blair…" I looked down at my burnt hands subconsciously. "I saved her. Or at least, I tried to. I made a few mistakes, though, and pretty soon the whole place was on fire."

"Was she still awake?" Nate asked. I could tell that he had guessed what had happened too. He knew.

We all did. But none of us were going to say it.

"Barely…she said a few words, then passed out. I thought she might have died…"

Serena looked like she wanted to ask what Blair had said, but Nate, seeing this, quickly cut in. "What happened to the guy you knocked out?"

"Well, he woke up and crawled out." I said, grateful that Nate could tell when there was something that just wasn't meant to be told. "But the police got him. They'd gotten all of them. I found out after I carried Blair out. Then they took her away and they took me away too…" I trailed off. "You know the rest of the story from there."

"What, so this all started yesterday?" Nate asked. "Why didn't you tell us? When you saw us today?"

"I couldn't. You would have freaked out. What if you'd called the police and they'd come storming in right away and the guys had killed Blair? Or what if you'd stopped me from going, and the guys killed Blair because I didn't show up on time? But they might have killed her anyways …I might have killed her anyways…it's all my fault…" I couldn't talk about this anymore.

Serena stood up, seeing that this conversation was over and that I needed to be alone for a while. "I'm going to see if I can find someone who can tell me if Blair's okay. And maybe I can find out some news about the baby too."

"Wait, what baby?" I said, only slightly distracted.

"Dan and Georgina's. Turns out she's pregnant. Or she was…we don't know if she's had the baby yet. Her water broke this morning…" Serena explained, sounding like she was trying to distract herself.

"Okay," I said. It didn't seem important. It was none of my business anyway. Right now all I could think about was her…

Serena walked to the door, then turned back.

She looked a little lost, like she felt helpless.

I knew the feeling.

"Coming, Nate?" she asked.

"I'll catch up with you soon," Nate said.

Why wasn't he going with her? She obviously needed someone to comfort her.

Serena just nodded and walked out of the room.

Nate didn't say anything at first. He just looked out the window.

"What was it like?" he asked quietly.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Watching it."

I paused. "Are you in love with Serena?" I asked.

Nate looked surprised at the question.

Finally, he nodded, still looking out the window. "I think so."

"How would it feel if she was dying right in front of you and you could do nothing about it?"

"It'd feel like they were killing me too," Nate said quietly after a moment.

"Yeah," I said quietly, now looking out the window too. "That's what it was like."

**AN: I know, I know, I still left you hanging on how Blair is! Originally this chapter was a lot different. I can't remember how many chapters I said that this was going to end in before, but I changed some stuff and I think that there are one or two more chapters, then an epilogue. I think. **

**I have more written but since I changes some stuff, I have to reorganize everything and write some more stuff. I changed where this chapter was originally gonna end. So I don't know when I'll update next, but it should be soon. **

**Thanks for… **

**Reviewing: ,rose, MusicFlowsWithin, HnM skinnys, Richelia, weasleywarrior, ronan03, and ronan03(once for chapter 12, once for chapter 13) **

**Story Alert: MusicFlowsWithin, Richelia, danielitapotter, and weasleywarrior **

**And yes, once again, the spaces are intentional **

**Thanks! Please please review! **


	15. Looking for Love

**Chapter 15 **

**Blair **

I opened my eyes.

The lights were too bright.

I blinked a few times, trying to block out all of the blinding light.

I felt so sore.

I turned my head a little and winced as my skin rubbed up against the fabric of my pillowcase.

I was in a bed.

I was just starting to adjust to the light when I noticed that I wasn't alone.

Someone familiar was sitting in a chair next to me. She was looking the other way.

"Am I dead?" I asked my mom, and she turned to me in surprise.

She made a noise that sounded halfway between a laugh and a sob.

My mother never cried, unless it was something really, really serious.

She cried when my dad left. She hadn't known that I saw.

She didn't like people seeing her cry.

But she was crying now.

"No," she said, managing a small smile. "You're not."

"Then where am I?" I asked, squinting against the light. "Why is it so bright here?"

"You'll adjust. You're in a hospital."

"A hospital? Why?"

"Why? Don't you remember…?"

"Remember what? What happened?"

"I was hoping that you could tell me. Apparently you were brought in with Chuck?"

"Oh my god," I said. "Chuck."

"What?" my mom asked.

"He's in trouble!" I said. "There's these guys…they threatened him…us…then…then he told me to run…to save myself…"

I tried to remember past that, but it was so hard.

"What guys? Are you sure this wasn't just a dream?"

"No…no, I'm sure that that happened. They accused Chuck of something…I didn't want to leave him alone, when he told me to run, but I thought that maybe I could get help if I did…"

"So did you run?"

"I did…I think…" I said, still trying to figure it all out. "I took the stairs…but…but I tripped…"

"And then what?"

I thought hard for a minute, then sighed. "I don't remember. Is that why I'm here? Did I hit my head falling down the stairs?"

My mom looked uneasy. "You might have hit your head, and maybe that's why you don't remember anything, but that's not why you're here."

"Then why?"

"Well…you have a lot of serious burns."

"Burns? Like a sunburn?"

"No…like a heat burn. A fire burn."

"A…a fire?" Suddenly my eyes widened. "Get me a mirror."

"But-"

"I'm serious. Get me a mirror."

She took out a small makeup mirror from her bag and handed it to me.

I took it and gasped at me appearance.

"My hair!" I moaned. I ran my fingers through it, but it wasn't easy.

It was frizzy and sticking out every which way, but that wasn't the worst of it.

A lot of it had turned black and clumpy. I pulled at some of that part, and it broke off.

I looked at my mom, horrified.

"We can fix it," she said. "See how it's mostly just the ends? We'll just have to cut your hair."

"But what about the rest of it?"

"I'll but some heat-repair shampoo."

"That's for people who have used a hair straightener too much, not people who've had their hair literally burned!" I practically shrieked.

"We'll fix it," my mom promised.

I looked back in the mirror and this time concentrated on my face.

It looked like I'd gotten a really, really bad sunburn. Except worse.

My skin was red and shiny, some of it puffy.

"Will it go away?" I asked.

"The doctor said it should."

"How long?" I asked.

"Some of it shouldn't take too long. Like your face. It's mostly your arms and legs. Your clothes seemed to protect you a little. And whatever happened…it probably wasn't exposed to your face for as long or as much."

"So how long for my face?"

"Two or three weeks."

"I'm not leaving the house." I decided.

"Blair! What about your friends?"

"I don't know. Maybe I'll wear a mask or something. What about the rest of me? My arms? My legs?"

"That will take a little longer."

"How much longer?"

"The doctors don't know. A long time."

"Great," I said, as the doctor walked in.

"Oh, good, you're awake," he said. "How are you feeling? Does it hurt?"

"Not really on my arms and legs…I mean they're kind of sensitive, but they don't hurt on their own…but my face? And my back? They hurt a lot. Are you sure that they were burned less?"

He nodded. "The nerves are damaged with third-degree burns, so you often don't feel it at all. With second-degree burns, they hurt a lot more but are much less serious. Though they're still not healthy."

"Okay."

"We have you on a little pain medication but we'll put you on some more. It might make you a little drowsy though."

"That's okay," I said, yawning. "I was going to go back to sleep yesterday.

"Okay, but Miss Waldorf?"

"Yes?"

"When you wake up again the police are going to talk to you. You're going to have to talk about what happened last night."

**Nate **

"Aww, she's so cute!" Serena cooed. "Look at her tiny face!"

She was looking at the small baby in Georgina's arms. Dan had found us soon after I had found Serena in the waiting room. We were now both in the hospital room with Dan and Georgina. Georgina looked happy and even Dan was smiling. Actually, he was practically glowing. It seemed like he had decided that this baby might not be such a bad thing after all.

Serena was smiling too. But while her smile grew, my glare increased.

Chuck was right. Now that I knew what had happened, I couldn't stop thinking about it.

But it wasn't all that was bothering me.

I also couldn't stop thinking about how Serena has said that she liked Dan.

I wasn't over her. And, apparently, she wasn't over Dan.

That was just the way it was.

He'd won.

And she just stood there, smiling at his baby.

She was acting like her best friend wasn't dying.

She was acting like Chuck wasn't hurt.

She was acting like she didn't know I loved her.

She was acting like she didn't care. About any of it.

"Have you decided what to name her yet?" Serena asked excitedly.

That was it. I quickly got up and left.

My back was to the door but I heard someone walk out.

"Nate," Serena said. "What was that?"

She sounded a little mad.

"I couldn't be there anymore, so I left."

"Well, it was a little rude." Serena commented.

I snorted. "At least I'm not the one who doesn't care that my best friend could be dead."

Serena looked offended. "I care! Of course I care!"

"Really? Because it doesn't seem that way."

"Just because you're upset doesn't mean you should take it out on me."

"I'm not! I guess I just don't get why you're acting like everything's okay when it's not."

"Blair will be fine."

"You don't know that!"

"Why are you so mad?"

"Because you're acting like nothing's wrong. Chuck was shot. Someone's been trying to kill him. And he doesn't seem to be able to find the will to live anymore. Your best friend might be dead. She was tortured, Serena! They tried to kill her too! And you know how! Oh, yeah, and on top of that all, this guy you claim to be in love with just had a baby with another girl."

"I'm not in love with Dan," Serena said quietly.

"Really?" I looked at her incredulously. "That's all you got out of that? That's what stood out to you?"

I turned to walk away. Suddenly, I changed my mind, and turned back to Serena.

"If you are honestly not in love with Dan, then prove it. Stop playing games. Decide what you want. Because I'm done waiting and Dan-" I gestured back to the room. "-has already moved on. If you do love Dan, then fine-go after him, before it's too late. But if you don't, then find someone else. Because I don't like games. Especially this one. And I don't want to play anymore."

I turned around and left.

This time for good.

**Chuck **

I was released the morning after I was brought in. I should've been released earlier, but the doctors were worried about how this had affected my already bad health, so they made me stay. I'm fine though-I'm not hurt at all.

The same can't be said for Blair.

Even if she is alive, she can't be unharmed after what happened. She's going to be hurt in some way.

I didn't want to see her hurt, but it would be better than not seeing her at all, right?

I had to find her.

I asked at the front desk.

"Do you know what room Blair Waldorf is staying in? I'm here to visit her."

"Let me check," the woman said, looking at her computer.

"Ms. Waldorf is not allowed visitors at this time, except for family," she said after a moment. "And even then, only one visitor at a time. And Mrs. Waldorf is already visiting her. So no new visitors right now. I'm sorry."

I walked away. Blair's mom was visiting her? So she had to be okay, right? Or maybe…maybe she was visiting her one last time before she died.

But I couldn't think like that.

Maybe I could call Eleanor. She could tell me how Blair was doing. But I doubted she would pick up, especially if she was with Blair. And even then, if the news was bad, that wasn't something that would be easy to say or hear over the phone. Or at all, really.

I needed to find her. I would open the doors to every room and look for her if I thought that it would help, but I'd probably just get kicked out of the hospital and lose my chances of seeing Blair as soon as possible.

But I still needed to find her. I needed to see her. I needed at the very least someone to tell me that she was all right, and even then I'd still want to see her for confirmation.

How had this summer gotten so messed up?

How had my relationship with Blair gotten so messed up?

How had my life gotten so messed up?

These were all easy questions, even though I didn't realize it at first.

Me. I had done this all. I had messed it all up.

But now, I was going to make sure that I fixed it. That I fixed it all.

If it wasn't too late…

**Serena **

I needed someone to talk to.

But the person that I wanted to talk to most wasn't allowed to have visitors.

Oh, yeah, and there was also a possibility that she was dead.

But I had to see her.

Nate was wrong. I did care. I cared a lot. But it was so much better not to brood on it. I didn't want to bring others down. And I didn't want to think about it myself. Was it so wrong that I tried to distract myself, just for a moment, from the messed-up stuff going on?

I found the hall that Blair was in. I remembered which room the paramedics had taken her into. I could just go into her room. There was nothing they could do to stop me. Nothing at all, except…

"Excuse me, Miss, are you lost?" a doctor walking by asked me.

I smiled sweetly at her. "No, I'm just visiting a friend."

"I'm sorry, but the patients in this hall aren't allowed visitors. Some family is allowed, but no friends. I'm sorry."

"Fine. Thanks for the help," I said sarcastically.

"Don't mention it!" she called as I turned to walk away, my fake smile gone.

I was going to have to find another way to get in.

I saw a male nurse walk out of a room and walk slowly down the hall. It didn't look like he was in a hurry. Maybe he was on his lunch break?

Suddenly I had an idea…

**Blair **

I woke up with my mom still by my side, but luckily there were no policemen yet. I didn't want to have to talk to them yet. What if they didn't believe me that I didn't remember what had happened?

There was a nurse in the room, just standing by the wall.

Suddenly, a new nurse came in.

"I'm here to take over. They need you in room 27B, quick," he said to the other nurse, in a deep growl, still facing the door as he closed it. The sound of his voice was almost funny. It didn't seem like it'd actually be someone's voice. But it had to be, I guess, if it was his.

"Oh, okay," she said, and ran off to help some other poor patient.

The nurse turned around and took off their surgical mask and their hat, revealing a pretty face and long, blonde hair.

"Oh my god Blair, you had us all scared to death!" Serena said, running over to me. "But you're okay, right? You're going to be okay?"

"Serena!" I said, pointing at the door that my nurse had just disappeared behind. "You just lied to my nurse! And why are you dressed in that outfit? It's hideous. Did you really do that all just to see me?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed, rushing over to a chair on the side of my bed, the one that my mother wasn't in.

"And I thought I was the dramatic one," I commented.

"You don't understand. We were worried sick. Chuck told us everything. We all thought you were dead! They wouldn't let us in to see you."

"Us?" I asked.

"Nate, Chuck, and me."

"How is Chuck?" I asked anxiously.

"He's fine," Serena said, waving an impatient hand. "The real question is how _you _are."

"I'm okay, I guess," I answered.

Serena looked doubtful. "I know I look like hell. Just….look away or something. I don't want anyone to see me like this. Although you already have. And my mom too."

"It's not that bad," Serena said, but I could tell that she was lying.

"I'm really not in the mood to be lied to right now," I said.

"It really isn't!" she insisted. "After what happened to you, it could have been a lot worse. You could be dead."

"What _did_ happen to me?" I asked.

Serena's eyes widened. "You mean you don't remember? You know what, never mind. I don't want you to have to know yet, and I really don't think that I should be the one to tell you anyways. Oh, Blair, I'm just so happy you're okay!" she squealed.

I couldn't help it-my mood lifted. Happiness was contagious, especially when Serena had it.

A sudden question struck me.

"Wait, where did you get that nurse outfit?" Suddenly my eyes widened as I realized that she must have switched. "What's he wearing?"

"One of my black dresses and heels," she said, giggling. "It wasn't too hard to get him out of his clothes."

I raised my eyebrows.

"Not what I meant! I just paid him and he immediately switched," she laughed.

I laughed too, and it felt great.

I didn't know what was going on. I was hurt and so was Chuck. Bad things were going on.

But just for a moment, I felt better.

**AN: I don't love this chapter. Tell me what you think. Sorry that it took me a little while to update-I was just being lazy. Oh and about Blair not remembering what happened, some people kind of erase traumatic incidents from their brains. They subconsciously block them out. But they can remember them in time. I'm pretty sure that can happen. **

**99 reviews! Just one more until 100. **

**Thanks for… **

**Reviewing: GGlover93, plinnng, chairobsesser (for chapter 12), chairobsesser (for chapter 13), chairobsesser (for chapter 14), rose, awakeningezgi, Sarah, MusicFlowsWithin, and ronan03 **

**Story Alert: He'sAPirate, ane27, and lovingmealways **

**Please review!**


	16. A New Baby, A New Couple?

**Chapter 16 **

_It's a girl! _

_It looks like it wasn't S who was pregnant…it was G! _

_Who's the father, you ask? Well, none other than lonely boy! Maybe be won't be so lonely now that he's a dad…_

_You know you love me. _

_Xoxo, _

_Gossip Girl _

**Blair **

"What happened, Miss Waldorf?" the policeman asked, looking at me with a penetrating gaze.

My mom was gone, and so was Serena. She left as soon as the policeman came in. I think that she was afraid that they'd yell at her for being in here when she wasn't family, and when my mom was already there. But they had more important matters.

Like exactly what had happened the night before.

I was silent. I didn't want to disappoint him with my answer.

They knew what had happened before. They knew that Chuck had been falsely accused of stealing something (something that didn't belong to them in the first place-the police found out that they'd stolen it before it was stolen from them), and that they were holding me hostage. They knew all of this because Chuck had called them. Chuck didn't know that they'd stolen the diamond in the first place, but he did know that they were holding me hostage, and that was a crime on its own. Turns out the police were looking for the guys even before Chuck's call. They have a long history of crime.

Back when this had all started, for me anyway, at Chuck's hotel, I had asked Chuck to call the police. They were trying to kill us, which was obviously a crime. But Chuck had been stubborn. I had thought he was being ridiculous. But at the same time, I understood his point of view. I knew what a scandal could cost him. He'd lost Bass industries after the sexual harassment rumor, and he couldn't afford anything like that to happen again. But that had just showed me how he hadn't changed since he'd sold me to the hotel. I'd thought that maybe he had changed…hey, having a near-death experience is enough to make anyone have a change of heart. I'm still not sure if I'm right. I'd thought that he hadn't when he was still willing to risk losing me (except that I would die this time, which would be a lot worse, I hope) as long as he could keep the hotel. But he had told me to leave. Maybe he had changed…maybe he was willing to risk losing himself to keep the hotel, but not me. I guess I kind of had noticed a change of heart in him…but not the one I'd expected and hoped for. He'd never really been an enthusiastic guy. But he was a complete pessimist after getting shot. I thought he was just being melodramatic over losing me. Honestly, he couldn't love me _that_ much after all he'd put me through. But seeing him so willing to risk his life like that…it was scary.

But the cop had told me that Chuck had called them. Did that mean that he had finally decided that I was the most important of all, and that anything that he did that could mean that he would lose me was not worth doing, even if he could lose everything else?

Did I even want him to risk losing everything else for me?

But the hotel was not everything else. He didn't have to risk losing me for it.

Is that why he called them?

I wasn't sure. How could I know? How could I even ask him any of this, and know that he was telling the truth when he answered?

After the policeman had told me about the phone call, he explained how they had had to wait to rescue me, on Chuck's orders. They could have just captured the guys outside and then rushed inside to get the other guy, but I would most likely be dead if they had done that. Chuck didn't want them to kill me. If the police had shown up before Chuck had, then I would be dead right now. They had to come a little after Chuck-Chuck was supposed to distract the guy inside, to hold him off of me as long as possible, since the police might have to wait a while to make sure that he was inside. The police would deal with the guys outside.

I was told that they did, but that the men put up a fight. It was hard to capture them pretty much silently. They had had to chase some of them. And they went a little after four to make sure that Chuck was already there.

It was a tricky thing, capturing them, he said. It was a delicate situation overall. He was pleased with the way it had turned out.

Except, well, the collateral damage to the case.

Me.

But I lived.

Chuck had went to all this trouble, had made the police wait, so that I would live.

The police didn't want a death on their consciences. And they didn't want Chuck Bass angry at them.

So they had followed his demands. And they had accomplished their mission-capture the bad guys and leave the girlfriend alive.

But leave her unharmed? They had completely failed on that mission.

And Chuck wouldn't be happy about that.

The policeman wanted to know exactly what had happened, so he knew more of what to charge the men with.

So that's where I was now, with a policeman asking a simple question that I didn't know the answer to.

I was worried he wouldn't believe me. And I wanted to be able to tell him the truth anyways. I didn't want to answer yet. I wanted to wait and see if maybe I could remember, if I tried hard enough.

But what was there to do but tell the truth?

"I don't know," I answered. "I honestly have no idea."

**Dan **

I opened the door for Georgina and then helped her in. She was feeling fine and was ready to leave only one day after the birth.

And as for Kaleigh? She was great too.

We'd decided on the name almost immediately. Georgina had suggested it, and I'd agreed.

It was pretty, and it seemed fitting.

I helped Georgina onto Jenny's old bed, now Georgina's, and took the tiny baby into my arms.

This baby was unexpected. It had been sprung on me when I least expected it. I had only had a few weeks to get used to it.

But I already loved her, as I held her in my arms.

I didn't want to take a test telling me if I was the father or not.

Because what if I wasn't? I wouldn't want to let this baby go after believing that it was mine.

I hadn't told my parents yet. I hadn't really had time.

But they would want to know. They needed to know. They were going to find out sooner or later that they were grandparents.

I preferred later. But if that meant they would find out on their own, without me telling them, then I would take sooner. However angry they may be if I told them, they would be ten times angrier if I didn't, once they found out.

But my dad and Lily had had a baby when they were about my age, even if Lily had given it up for adoption and my dad hadn't known about it. Maybe they would understand.

And my mom…well, I didn't live with her. She couldn't kill me while I was in Brooklyn and she was in Hudson, right?

I would tell them this week, I promised myself. But not right now. Right now, I just needed to take care of Georgina and this baby.

Georgina seemed happy about the baby. And I had to admit, she was growing on me. She might be a little evil, but she had been great lately. And she seemed to love this baby as much as I did.

I hated the idea of the baby growing up with parents that weren't together. My parents had split, and it had been hard on all of us.

But I wasn't going to marry Georgina just because of it. But maybe…maybe I would grow to love her.

Everything with Serena seemed so unimportant now that I had a daughter. Now, what was important was this baby.

And its mother.

**Blair **

"You can't remember anything?" the policeman pressed.

I shook my head sadly.

To my surprise, the policeman nodded. "We thought that may be the case."

"What?"

"Well, some people block out traumatic experiences. That combined with the drugs they put you on could definitely cause your mind to block out what happened last night."

"Oh…will I remember?"

"In time, you should. It will come at an unexpected time."

I nodded.

We were silent for a moment. "Have you talked to Chuck yet?"

"We're going to speak with him today."

"So you have no idea what happened last night inside the warehouse?"

"Well…we know there was a fire. We saw it. And the burns you have…but what we want to know is what happened before."

"What if nothing happened? What if the fire was it?"

The policeman paused. "We think there was more. Mr. Bass wasn't as harmed as you were. However, whatever we think is just speculation. We can't be sure of anything until we talk to you and Mr. Bass."

I was silent for a moment. "I think I need some rest," I finally said.

"Of course. We all want you to recover as well and as quickly as possible. Let us know if you remember anything."

I nodded and he walked to the door.

To be honest, I didn't really feel like resting at all. I couldn't stop thinking about what could have happened the night before to make me look like this…

"Oh," the policeman said, pausing at the door. "Do you mind if I let Mr. Bass in when I see him? I'm sure that he'd want to see you."

"No," I said. "Go ahead."

He nodded and left.

Not ten minutes later he was back, leading Chuck in. Chuck looked extremely worried.

"We didn't have to look long, he was just in the waiting room," the policeman said. "We'll question him after he visits with you. He was clear about that."

He left, leaving me alone with Chuck.

"You're alive," he said, sounding relieved, as he walked over to sit next to me.

"They're not making you use a wheelchair?"

"Well, I'm supposed to when I get back to the hotel, but I pretty much refused to use it now. But that's not important. How are you feeling?"

"Alright, I guess. I know that I look disgusting, but that's it."

"You don't look disgusting."

"You and Serena both! Don't lie!"

"Serena was here?"

"Yeah, she snuck in."

"Oh. I would've too, but I had no idea what room you were in."

"It's fine. I needed my rest anyway."

"Yeah," Chuck agreed. "Blair…I'm so sorry that this happened. I should have called the police in the first place, when you first suggested it. This is all my fault. If you never heal, it's my fault. If you look different because of this, it's my fault. If you don't live as long, or you're not as healthy because of this, then it's my fault too. It's all my fault."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," I said. "I'm sure that whatever happened, you did your best to stop it. And I'm alive, aren't I?"

"Wait…'whatever happened'? You mean you don't remember?"

I sighed. "No. I wish I did."

Suddenly Chuck's face darkened. "No. You don't."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure if I can tell you. I guess if anyone should it's me, but I can't bring myself to. Maybe it's best if you don't know."

"You're scaring me." I said. Why was everyone so scared to tell me what had happened? Serena and Chuck wouldn't tell me, and even the police officer wouldn't even share his suspicions with me. "Just tell me."

"Not right now. Maybe later. When you've recovered. Then we can talk about it."

"Fine," I said, annoyed. "I'm actually really tired. Would you mind if I rested for a little?"

"Sure. I'll just stay here."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not going to die if you're not watching me every second." Now I understood why Chuck was always so annoyed that we wouldn't let him have any alone time.

"It doesn't hurt if I am though," Chuck pointed out, very seriously. I think he actually did think that I would explode if left alone.

I just shrugged and closed my eyes.

**Nate **

"Where are you right now?"

It was Serena.

"I'm in the hotel lobby. It's too weird to be in the hotel room after everything, at least right now. Why?"

"Good, I'm pretty close now. Look, Nate, I'm really sorry. I never meant to lead you on, or anything. I guess I just…I guess I just missed you. I know that I have a lot of growing up to do, and that it's not fair to ask you to wait until I'm done. I'm still trying to figure out who I am. It might end up being a decision of who I want to be. It's really hard for me. I don't know if I'll be able to hold down a guy right now, because if I don't know who I am, how am I supposed to know who anyone else really is, and if they're a good match for me? But I know that I still love you. And maybe sometimes it seems like I still have feelings for Dan, and sometimes I feel like I might, but I think that's just because Dan was the first guy who ever really cared about me, and don't say that you did because we were so young and clueless and even if you did I didn't know. He was my first love, and it's hard to let that go. But if I think of myself five years from now, I don't see myself with Dan."

"Do you see yourself with me then?"

"I don't know. I just don't think that we should give up on this yet. I may have a lot of growing up and figuring out to do, but it will be a lot easier with you by my side."

There was silence.

"Serena, I can't be with someone who's not sure what they want in life. You may want to be with me now, but what will you think tomorrow? I need a serious relationship. I love you, and I'd be willing to do a lot to make this work, but none of that matters if you aren't as willing. I'm sorry. Maybe in the future we could work out, once we both grow up little more and you figure out what you want."

"Look up," said a voice, partly in my ear, partly from a source near me. I hung up the phone.

I looked up to see Serena in front of me. She sat down and faced me.

"I _have_ figured out what I want. I want _you_," she told me.

"You want me, but you don't need me," I said, sounding strangely like Blair when she had broken up with me after my dad had gotten arrested. I took her hands in mine. "If you really want to change, then you need to concentrate completely on that, not on a relationship that won't work until you finish."

Serena blinked away tears. "But I-"

"If we ever want a chance at working, then we can't be together now."

Slowly, finally, Serena nodded.

"You're right," she said. "It's just hard letting go."

"I know," I said quietly. "I know."

She wrapped her arms around me and we held each other for a long time.

"I should go," Serena finally said, drawing away.

I nodded. "Okay."

"Bye, Nate."

"Bye, Serena."

I watched her walk away, not quite sure what to feel.

**AN: Like how I ended it? I was tying it together with the beginning of the story, when Serena and Nate are on the phone. Also, Blair was thinking just like Chuck when he was hurt and no one would leave him alone, I think they had a really similar line there, because I think that they can be alike sometimes and they're in a similar situation. Anyways, there should only be one more chapter, and then I might do an epilogue. Also, someone reviewed and asked me if I would write a different ending for option #2, and I was wondering if anyone would be interested if I wrote one. I think that might be against policy on this site (interactive stories-I know that it is on a different site), so I'll have to check first, but if it's allowed, would anyone be interested? Let me know! **

**Oh, and I have over 100 reviews now! Yay! Thank you guys so much! I never thought that I would get such great support for this story! **

**I definitely want to finish this story before the season premiere. I wanted to finish it before school starts, but it's a little too late for that. **

**I hope it doesn't seem like I'm dragging this out too long, I know this chapter isn't all that exciting. I'm just trying to wrap everything up and answer any questions, and set it up for the ending. **

**Thanks for… **

**Reviewing: MusicFlowsWithin, HnM skinnys, rose, Cullen Mad, and KamiKazeGirl 411 **

**Story Alert: xoBrEEzYox and Cullen Mad**

**Favorite Story: Cullen Mad **

**Thank you guys soo much! **

**Please review, and let me know about the choice #2 thing! **


	17. Pushing Him Away

**Chuck **

Blair was asleep, but she looked far from peaceful; she was tossing and turning and muttering things.

"Blair?" I asked.

There was no answer.

"Blair?" I asked again.

"Stop it!" she said. "Please,"

She was sweating and looked feverish.

Was something wrong? Was she just having a nightmare, or was she in pain?

"Blair?" I said again, louder this time.

Her eyes snapped open and she just looked at me for a moment.

"Are you okay? Should I get the nurse?"

"I remember," she said quietly, her wide eyes staring at me but not really seeing.

She seemed to focus more now and really looked at me, and he eyes started to water and her lip started to tremble.

"I remember," she said again, before collapsing onto me, sobbing.

**Dan **

I woke up to Kaleigh's crying.

It was only the first night, but it had been the longest night of my life.

I didn't know that a baby could be this much work. I thought that a baby would just go to bed and sleep for as long as we did, maybe waking us up once.

She didn't wake us up once. She woke us up eight times. I counted.

We'd both gotten out of bed every time. Since we slept in different rooms, there was no way of knowing if the other one had woken up and was going to check on Kaleigh too.

She needed to be fed, she needed her diaper changed, she needed attention…she needed a lot of care. It was too much to handle.

I was more tired than I'd ever been.

The last time Kaleigh woke up, Georgina had just walked out of the room. I put Kaleigh back to bed, and then followed her to Jenny's room. We were using the living room as a nursery at the moment.

"What's wrong?" I'd asked.

"It's too much," she said, sounding on the verge of tears. "I don't think I can do this. Is this what every night's going to be like? Every second? Are we always going to have to watch her every second, and take care of her like this?"

I hesitated. "Probably. But it will all be worth it, won't it?"

Georgina hadn't answered.

"I mean, we love her, right? So we'll take care of her until she's old enough to look out for herself."

"I don't know, Dan. I just don't know if I can do this."

"Hey," I said, putting my arm around her. "We're a family now. We can do this."

But now that I was awake again, when I got out of bed to go take care of Kaleigh, Georgina didn't join me.

I looked for her. But she wasn't in her room either.

She wasn't anywhere in the loft.

I went to her room again, and I noticed something that I hadn't before.

It was a note.

_I can't handle this, _it said. _I have to go. _

_I think it's best if I'm not in Kaleigh's life. We both know that I wouldn't be a good mother anyways. _

_I'm sorry, Dan. I tried to make this work. But I just can't. _

_Take care of Kaleigh. I know that you'll do a good job raising her. _

_-G _

I crumpled up the note and threw it across the room. So she was leaving? She was just giving up on me, on Kaleigh, just like that? After only one night?

I couldn't believe this. I'd thought that she was different. That she'd grown up. That she could handle this.

But I had been wrong.

And now I was alone.

Except for the tiny baby in the other room. A newborn whose mother had left because she didn't want to take care of her.

And I was the teenage father who would have to raise her alone.

I wasn't upset because I would have to do all of the work. I was sad that Kaleigh would never really know her mother. Because I didn't think that Georgina was ever going to come back.

But there was another thing that I was sad about? The thing that I had never expected would make me upset? The thing that I would have always expected to be happy about?

The thought of never seeing Georgina Sparks again.

**Chuck **

Blair had calmed down since she had first remembered what had happened in the warehouse, and she was resting now. The doctor had given her sleeping pills so that she could easily fall asleep, because of how distressed she was after she remembered. She had been feeling a lot better right before she fell asleep, but I could tell that what had happened was still haunting her.

I wasn't surprised. It was haunting me too.

I'd talked to the police without Blair. I didn't want her to have to recount it for them. I knew that it would be too painful for her.

I'd had to leave the room to do it, which was something that I had not been happy about. But I needed to get it over with, and Blair wasn't supposed to wake up for hours anyways.

But I was back again, and I wasn't leaving this time. And when she woke up, I was going to ask her about what she had said back at the warehouse.

Because I was tired of not knowing where we stood. I would be there for her no matter what, but I needed to know if she really loved me, or if we were just friends, if even that.

I hated being so confused. So I was going to clear it up, once and for all.

**Blair **

I woke up to see Chuck still sitting next to me. _Of course._ He wouldn't leave me alone. But I wasn't ready to talk to him yet. I had to make a decision. And then I would have a serious discussion with him. But not yet. He was looking the other way, so I did what I do best, and I manipulated. Sure, pretending to be asleep was pretty tame compared to the other ways I'd manipulated people in the past, but it was still manipulating. I'd done it plenty of times before and it had been very effective.

Except when I got caught.

But I wasn't going to get caught this time.

I'd told him that I loved him. And I did. But was it enough?

I'd thought that I was going to die. And I'd wanted him to know that I loved him, in case I never got the chance to tell him.

But now that I was going to be okay…? I didn't know if I wanted him to know anymore.

If I did tell him, he'd win. It'd be like saying that everything that had happened was okay. Like everything he'd done was fine. And it wasn't fine. Suddenly I felt a flash of anger.

I opened my eyes. "Chuck," I said, to get his attention.

"Hey," he greeted me, smiling. "Feeling any better?"

"Yes." His smile grew and he opened his mouth to say something.

"I mean, no!" I quickly corrected myself.

His smile faltered.

"Chuck, honestly, I don't know what you expect," I said bitterly. "This is your fault. It all is."

Chuck looked shocked.

"You've done terrible things to me, but this has gone too far. You've played all of your games, and I'm always the one who ends up hurt. It's like you don't even feel bad about it! And you're using your injury to get me back, too."

Chuck opened his mouth to argue but I cut him off.

"You are," I said. "If you hadn't gone off and gotten yourself shot, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you right now. I'd be as far away from you as possible! I told you never to speak to me again! Instead, you've been…_luring_ me into your trap again! Yes, I know they're some kind of pull between us, and the only way to stop it is to _not be in each other's lives._ I can't believe some of the things you've done. And now this! If you had just stayed away from me like you were supposed to, I'd be perfectly healthy right now. Who was sold to Jack? Whose boyfriend slept with another girl? Who got freaking set on fire? Me. While you just watched."

I was being way too harsh, I knew. I knew that's he'd saved me in there. But I was tired of it all. Something inside me had just…snapped. Every harsh thought that had come into my head, all of the pain I was in, mentally and physically…I was pouring it all onto him. I had stored it up for so long, barely even venting to Serena. But the bad thing about keeping all of that to yourself is that one day it just becomes too much and you snap. And anyways, a lot of the pain was Chuck's fault. Everything bad, every cause of pain the last few months, had been Chuck. Whether he intended to hurt me or not, the truth was that he did. I payed for his bad decisions. If things stayed like this forever, if I stayed with him, how battered and hurt would I be in five years? Ten?

Chuck was dangerous. And maybe I liked dangerous. But for my own good, I needed to stay away from people like him.

But I knew that he didn't deserve to be attacked like this. I just…couldn't help it.

"Blair," Chuck said quietly. "You know I wish it had been me…"

"But it wasn't! I'm the one sitting in the hospital bed. And it's your fault."

"I won't deny it."

His calmness just made me madder.

"I can't keep living like this, Chuck." I said quietly, my eyes welling up. I cursed myself for crying, but sometimes I couldn't control it.

"Blair, I'm so, so sorry…about everything. But I've changed. If you just give me another chance, I can prove to you just how much…"

"You've used up all of your chances."

"I know that you still love me. I heard you say it before you passed out. And it's enough. If we're in love, then we can work out our proble-"

"You heard wrong! I don't love you, Chuck. How could I? No. I can't believe you're even trying to defend yourself. After all you've done, I don't even want to look at you."

"I know that I did some terrible stuff, but we can work through this, Blair, I know we can…"

"What if I don't want to work through this? I'm not in love with you!"

"You're lying," he said.

"How do you know?"

"I just do."

"That's not good enough," I said. "Just go, Chuck. Leave me alone. This time for good."

Chuck just looked at me.

"Go," I said to him. "I don't want you here when I wake up."

"You can't mean that…"

I looked at him. "I do," I said quietly. "Please, Chuck…it's my last wish to you. My last request. Because I'm done with you."

I could see the hurt in his eyes. He nodded and got up to leave.

He looked back one last time at the door, and then left.

**Chuck **

I took my time getting out of the building.

I couldn't believe it. Everything with Blair…it was over. It was just like a few weeks ago. I'd lost her again.

I'd called Nate to come with my driver. I didn't really feel like going home alone.

"Hey, you ready to go?" Nate asked when he saw me.

I nodded.

"How's Blair?"

"Fine. She doesn't need me anymore."

"So you two aren't back together? I thought that maybe…"

"No. You thought wrong."

"I'm sorry, man. Maybe she'll come around?"

"I don't think so, Nathaniel."

Nate paused. "Okay. Let's go."

I nodded and started to follow him out of the door.

**Serena **

"Hey," I said quietly, leaning against the doorframe.

"Hey," Blair said, giving me a weak smile. But something looked off. She looked strange, and distant. She looked sad.

"How are you?"

"Oh, Serena, I've made a terrible mistake."

"Why, what happened?" she asked, coming over to sit next to me.

"I told Chuck to leave me alone. That I didn't love him."

"But you do, right?"

Blair sighed, closing her eyes. "Yes."

"Then why did you do that?"

Her eyes snapped open.

"I needed to hurt him. I needed to hurt him, like he hurt me. All the anger from everything with Jack and Jenny just came rushing back, and that coupled with my injuries and my new appearance caused me to lash out at him. And I was scared. Scared of what getting back together with him would mean. Scared that he would hurt me again. But now I'm just scared that I'll never have him in my life again."

"B, it sounds like you want to be with him."

"I do."

"Then why not tell him that?"

"Because then he wins."

"But maybe the only way to win is to lose."

"You don't understand, Serena. It's just so…complicated."

"It doesn't have to be," I told her. "You love each other. And I think that Chuck has proved himself at this point. I think he's changed. He's learned his lesson. And he's definitely been punished enough. Getting shot and watching you get tortured…he's been punished way too much, if you ask me."

"I don't know, S."

"Listen, Blair," I started. "Have you noticed a change in Chuck recently?"

"But that's the thing, Serena; I can't _tell_ if he's changed.

"No, I mean how…depressed he's been. Really pessimistic. He never smiles anymore."

"Yeah…I guess getting shot could do that to anyone."

"But it wasn't getting shot that did that!" I said impatiently. "It was losing you."

"Spare me the dramatics, S," Blair said, rolling her eyes. "I think getting shot was a little worse than losing me."

"Just like getting shot is worse than what he did to you, so he's been punished enough!"

Suddenly I heard a knock on the doorframe.

"Blair?" said a familiar voice. "Can I come in?"

I looked up to see a tall, bleached blonde, raccoon-eye-make-up-wearing 16-year-old, looking nervously down at Blair.

**AN: Ooh, a twist! So I know that this is supposed to be the last chapter before the epilogue, but I decided to have one more before that. Sorry! It was just too much to fit in. I rewrote this chapter a lot and I'm still not sure if I like it. But now I've finally decided on the exact ending, so that will be the next chapter. I'm not sure if I'll write an epilogue anymore or not, and if I do I would probably post it after the season 4 premier, which I didn't want to have to do. Although I might have to post the last chapter after the season premier too. I'll try to finish writing it and post it tomorrow though! **

**Enjoy the season premier! **

**Thanks for… **

**Reviewing: awakeningezgi, artemidoula **

**Story Alert: neuroticmess, artemidoula**

**Thanks! Please review! **


	18. Sneaking Out of a Hospital

**Blair **

"No," I said coldly, once I'd recovered from the shock. "No, you most certainly may not."

I started pushing the button that called for a nurse repeatedly.

Jenny just stood there, looking timid.

"Did you not hear me? Should I make myself more clear? YOU'RE NOT WELCOME HERE. I told you to leave and never come back. What part of that did you not understand?"

I took a deep breath.

"If you leave right now I may consider leaving you unharmed."

"Blair, I really need to talk to you. I just came back to visit my family, and I heard what happened to Chuck. And then that you were in the hospital for some reason. And…I needed to talk to you."

The nurse hurried in.

"Take that girl away, please," Serena said. "She's not welcome here."

"'She' has a name. And 'she' happens to be related to you," Jenny snapped.

"And 'she' happens to have tried to ruin my life, along with my life of my best friend! Take her away, please!" Serena snapped back, glaring at Jenny.

"No…wait," I said softly. 'Let…let her stay. I want to hear what she has to say for herself."

Serena's eyes widened. "But Blair-"

"Serena, I think it's time for you to go," I said, still quiet.

"Fine. I'll be back later."

Serena got up angrily and stalked out of the room, walking right past Jenny without glancing at her.

"You can go," I said to the nurse. "Sorry to bother you."

She looked hesitant but just nodded and walked away.

"Explain."

Jenny came over to sit beside me.

"I want to start by saying that I'm so sorry, Blair. I regretted it as soon as it happened. I shouldn't have done it."

I just nodded.

"I heard about Chuck getting shot…honestly, I didn't really care. I mean, it wasn't like he died. It's just that…I feel bad about hurting you."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that maybe you should give Chuck a second chance."

I almost laughed. "Wait, you're actually defending him?"

"I saw an engagement ring in his room. He was going to propose. I think that he really wanted to be with you forever."

"I'm afraid you're a little behind the times, Little J,"I said.

She winced at the use of her old nickname but said nothing.

"I know that he was going to propose. I overheard him talking to Nate about it, and I then talked to him about it myself."

Jenny looked surprised. "Oh. And you didn't take him back?"

"He didn't just sleep with you, Jenny. There was other stuff…before. But I'm not really in the mood to have a heart-to-heart with you where we paint each other's nails and talk about our problems, so I'm not going to tell you."

"But don't you think he's been punished enough?"

I sighed. "Well, you and Serena certainly do."

"And…well, when I talked to him that night-"

"Wait, you guys actually talked? Wow, you're not as much of a slut as I thought, Little J. Still a slut, though. I mean, seriously. How long did you have in between when Chuck arrived and when I arrived?"

Jenny looked angry but looked like she was determined not to be provoked. She ignored me.

"He was really upset about you not showing up. He was drinking and trying to forget it. We talked about how this world. And after we kissed for the first time…well, the first time that year…"

"I don't want to hear about that," I said, wincing slightly and then wrinkling my nose in disgust.

"Right," Jenny said. "He told me that he didn't want to take advantage of me."

"But he did. As mad as I am at you, Jenny, he was older. He shouldn't have let this happen."

"It wasn't just his fault, Blair, as I'm sure you know, since you told me that you would destroy me if I ever came back here. We both did this. But not because he wanted to betray you. He didn't think that he was. We were both lonely, with no one left to turn to except each other."

"It doesn't change that he was older-"

"He told me that I could leave if I wanted to," Jenny said loudly, interrupting me.

I stopped talking at this.

"I stayed. At one point, before we kissed, we talked about how this world was empty. After we kissed, he told me that'd he'd only ever found one person that made it full. And that he blew it with one stupid mistake. He said he should have known that you wouldn't show up, that he shouldn't have gotten his hopes up. He said that he didn't deserve you anyways. That he didn't deserve a friend like Nate or Serena after what he did. He wouldn't tell me what he did, though. He said that if I did, I would leave just like the rest of them. Maybe he made a mistake, Blair, but that was a long time ago. And one thing that was clear to me that night was that he regretted it. What happened between me and Chuck was just that-between me and Chuck. It had nothing to do with you, and I understand why you're upset, but you have to put yourself in Chuck's position. You might have done the same thing with some random guy. So the real question is if you forgive him for his original mistake. And I think that you do, because you took him back that night."

Hearing Jenny say it was different than just hearing Serena or Chuck say it.

Jenny didn't have anything to gain by coming here and telling me this. There was no ulterior motive, I could tell. She was there that night, and she knew how Chuck was feeling. She was the only one. This was the proof that he had changed.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked softly. "You hate Chuck."

"Because after everything, I owe it to you. You don't have to forgive me. I know that you think that I ruined any chance of you being happy, but it's not too late. You can still have your happily ever after. And if I'm the only one who can help you see that, then I'm going to. Even if it involves helping Chuck along the way."

"Jenny, you're more like me than you know," I said. "I know why you're mad at Chuck. You wanted your first time to be special, to be with someone you love. Like maybe Nate?"

"How do you kn-"

"I know it may have seemed to Serena that you just liked messing with her, but I know that you really liked Nate."

Jenny hesitated, then nodded.

"Me too. Once upon a time, I was with the guy of my dreams, and I wanted to have my first time with him. I wanted it to be special. But my first time wasn't with Nate, it was with Chuck. I was your age. Sixteen. I was almost seventeen, but not quite. We're both ambitious, Jenny, and we're both born to rule. I chose you to be queen. You may have lost my respect, but you can still gain it back from some other people. Us Blair and Jennies of the world will make mistakes like sleep with Chuck Bass, or get in fights with our families. But it's not too late for you to be happy either, Jenny."

Jenny smiled. "Thank you, Blair."

"No, thank you."

We were silent from a moment.

"Okay, now that that's over with, I do want you to leave," I said. "I'm grateful for your help, but I think it will be a long time before the sight of you doesn't make me want to gag."

Jenny nodded. "I know. And I'm sorry. For everything."

She got up and left.

Moments later, Serena walked in.

"Oh, good, she's finally gone. Listen, I just saw Chuck and Nate downstairs, and I texted Nate and got him to stall Chuck by saying he wanted some coffee from the hospital cafeteria. You're going to make the biggest mistake of your life if you let him go now. Just give me the okay and I'll go back down and tell Chuck to come back up here so you can tell him how you feel."

Serena looked out of breath, and desperate.

"No, Serena, I can't let you do that."

Serena looked disappointed.

"Because I want to chase after him myself," I finished.

Serena's jaw dropped.

"What do you know about sneaking out of a hospital?" I questioned.

Serena's open mouth slowly twisted into a mischievous smile.

"Not much, yet," she answered. "But I have a feeling I'm about to find out."

**Nate **

_On my way,_ Serena's next text read. _Stall him 5 more minutes? _

"Who are you texting?" Chuck asked.

"Oh…just Serena," I answered truthfully.

"Is she with Blair?"

"Umm…yeah."

"Oh."

There was silence while I finished my coffee.

"The limo is waiting. We should probably go," Chuck said, looking at my empty cup.

"Actually, I'm really hungry. I think I'm going to get a burger."

"We can eat when we get back to the hotel."

"I'll be quick. Just five more minutes."

"Can you at least eat it in the car?"

"And risk getting ketchup on your seats? Never."

"Please, Nathaniel. I just want to get out of here as soon as possible."

I looked at his tired face and I wanted to let him go. I wanted to go back to the hotel. He'd had a long few days, and he was still injured. He didn't need any more drama. I nodded.

_I think it's best if I just take him home. He's had enough drama today. Blair can decide if she really wants to be with him and if she does, she can tell him the next time she sees him_, I texted Serena.

I threw my coffee cup out and we pushed in our chairs to leave.

My phone buzzed and I gave Chuck an apologetic look as I opened it to see a response from Serena.

_She has decided! And if we wait it might be too late! We're less than a minute away, just wait!_

What did she mean by "we're"? She wasn't coming with Blair, right? Blair didn't have any IVs on her anymore, just the heart monitor, but she still was not supposed to be moving around too much.

I sighed and gave in to Serena.

"Actually, is it okay if we wait here another minute for Serena? She's on her way down."

"Fine. But then we'll leave, right?"

"Right. Then we'll leave."

We didn't have to wait long. Just then, I saw a flash of blonde hair and long legs as Serena ran towards us, in a nurse's outfit. She wasn't alone. She was pushing a wheelchair with Blair in it, who was lying back and clutching the arm rests, holding on for her life.

They stopped right in front of Chuck and me.

Chuck was facing the other way, checking the time on his cell phone.

"Serena, that was less sneaking and more running like a maniac," Blair said weakly. "Thank god you still had that nurse's outfit."

Chuck froze at Blair's voice and slowly turned around.

He looked back in forth between Serena and Blair. Serena looked extremely proud of herself and Blair looked tired but happy…and a little nervous too.

"Are you crazy?" Chuck finally said to Serena. "What did you do? Do you have any idea how much this could harm her?"

"Chuck-" Serena started, seeming like she was trying to explain. She looked taken aback.

"How this could bring her back in her recovery? This was extremely dangerous, Serena!

"Chuck-" Serena tried to interrupt.

"I can't believe you did this! I thought you cared about Blair!" Chuck continued.

"I do, but-" Serena protested.

"This was completely reckless!" Chuck said, ignoring Serena. "Why did you do this? What could have made you risk-"

"Chuck, I love you!" Blair shouted.

There was complete silence.

"What?" Chuck said faintly.

"I love you. I'm sorry about what I said earlier. It wasn't true. I don't blame you for any of that-well, except for the Jack thing, but I've forgiven you for that! I was just looking for excuses not to be with you, because I was scared. But I love you, and I can't let you go. I love you."

She looked at Chuck, desperately searching for a reaction. We all were.

"Love…me?"

"Yes!"

"And you had Serena kidnap you so that you could come down here and tell me this?"

"Yes."

There was a pause.

"Blair, that was completely irresponsible! You could've gotten hurt! And now you and Serena will be in trouble! You would've been furious with me if I had pulled anything like that when I was in the hospital!"

I looked at Blair to see her reaction to Chuck's speech, but instead of looking shocked, like I'd expected, she looked amused. She grabbed his tie and pulled to her level.

"4 words, eleven letters. I know you can say it," she whispered, but I still heard it.

"I love you too," Chuck said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Always have, always will."

They kissed and I looked away, instead locking eyes with Serena.

She was smiling, looking very happy with the way things worked out. But I could also sense some sadness too, like she was sad that she couldn't have the same happiness for herself.

Suddenly a few doctors came running up to us, panting. They looked at Serena and Blair.

Blair withdrew from Chuck. "I won't be pressing charges," she said, winking at Serena. "And I'll come quietly back upstairs, don't worry."

They wheeled her away and Chuck followed.

Serena and I watched them go.

"I love Chuck and Blair, but if two people as twisted as them can make it work, why can't we?" Serena asked softly.

"Serena…"

"It's okay, Nate. I know that it's over."

I nodded.

"I should probably go…"

"Yeah," I agreed. "Me too."

We went our separate ways, maybe in more ways than one. It was hard to tell at this point.

I wanted to make it work.

It just wasn't our time yet.

Maybe one day.

Maybe one day we would love each other as much as Chuck and Blair did.

**AN: To all of the Jenny fans, I'm sorry if I have portrayed her in a negative light during this story (except for this chapter) I just personally have lost my respect for her, not only the Chuck thing, because that was both of their faults, but everything before that. I used to like her character, but I don't anymore. **

**I know that there wasn't a lot of Chuck and Blair stuff after she admitted that she still loved him, I had some trouble writing that part, because I decided on it the other day but I'm not sure if I like it now. But there should be more Chuck and Blair stuff in the next chapter….the epilogue! Yes, I've decided to write one after all, even though it means that I'll have to post it after the season premier. Please please stick with me until the end and read it? Thanks! **

**Oh and did anyone get the past gossip girl episode reference with the "always have, always will" thing? In the pilot, Blair said "I love you, Nate Archibald. Always have, always will," and I think that Chuck says something along of the lines of "You don't belong with Nate. Never have, never will," also in the first season. I think. **

**Thanks for… **

**Reviewing: Bella, Team Rosalie, MusicFlowsWithin, cbdivalove, **chairobsesser, chairobsesser, chairobsesser (for 3 different chapters)

**Story Alert: Team Rosalie, **msphelleya89,

**Favorite Story: Team Rosalie, **msphelleya89,

**Pleaseeee review? Please? It doesn't have to be long! (Although long ones are my favorites!) **

**Enjoy the premier! I can't wait! **


	19. Epilogue: New Beginnings

**AN: First of all, I'm sorry this took so long! I've been really busy. **

**Second of all, Gossip Girl tonight! Yay! **

**And now…I'm going to start the epilogue with my rant about the season premiere. After my rant on the season 3 finale, I'm sure you all knew this is coming. The difference with this one is that it's a happy review, while the last one was an angry review. **

**SPOILER ALERT: I am going to talk about the premiere in this author's note. If you have not watched it, or you really don't care what I think, then skip right to the chapter. **

**Let the ranting begin. **

**OMGG it was soo good! I have heard from a few people that they didn't like it, but I loved it! I thought it was done perfectly, with the funny Dan stuff ("Who's baby is that?" "Oh god…" *slowly puts down the phone*, "I know you think that I'm insane, and a psycho, and selfish, and all of that is true! Or it was…" "I have to ask, and I know Rufus will…are you sure Milo's yours?" "Of course he's mine! I mean, I prreeettttyy sure", and of course "What's your friend's name?" "Chuck Bass." "What would Chuck Bass do in a situation like this?" "Chuck Bass wouldn't **_**be**_** in a situation like this." These are all paraphrased, I did watch the episode twice but I haven't memorized it), the fun and lighthearted Paris stuff (The shopping and the boys,) the Blair and Serena drama and prince stuff ("I'll just tell them that you tripped and fell in the fountain!" "Blair, no one's going to believe that." "Wanna bet?" *pushes Serena in the fountain* "Cindarella didn't Google prince charming!"), new mysteries (What is up with Juliet? Stalker alert! Is the baby really Dan's? Who was Georgina talking to on the phone, and why did he want Dan to sign Milo's birth certificate? Why did Georgina leave? Btw, I SO called that) paired with the ominous question of where Chuck is the whole time. (Sorry for the reeaallllyy long sentence.) There were plenty of shocking moments, like when Georgina revealed Milo to Vanessa, then Dan's parents, then there's something wrong with Juliet, then Georgina leaves, and Lily gets that phone call. It was exactly as a Gossip Girl episode should be. I loved it! I felt like Lily should have stood up for Chuck (oh sorry…Charles in her book) more, because he's way better than Jenny, but I understood why she didn't too much, cuz Rufus and Serena and everyone hate him, and she's mad at him too. She feels awkward admitting that she's worried about him though. It was clear that she was though. Poor Lily. Poor Chuck though! That phone call at the end was so intense ("a body washed up shot on the shore of Paris…identified as Charles Bass") and I was freaking out (I mean obviously I knew he was alive because of the preview and spoilers, I just felt so bad for Lily, I doubt Rufus will be all that supportive, and it was just such a good idea by the writers. Then it FINALLY went to a scene with Chuck in it! (I predicted before the episode that he wouldn't be in it until the end, and I was right.) The music that started I think when Juliet left to go meet Nate and there's pictures from gossip girl posts there, then during the phone call and then the Chuck part was fitting….it just sounded good. And the flashbacks part (actually that whole dream before he wakes up on the train) was MAGIC! It was a good way of portraying how he didn't want to be Chuck Bass anymore, and how ashamed he was, and how he knew all of those things that he'd done were terrible, and how he thought that he was a terrible person, and all that stuff. It was so sad and so intense, when Eva put her hands to her mouth and they were all bloody that was freaky, but intense….although why wouldn't she take him to a hospital? Seriously, here's a quick survey: If you find someone shot in an alley, you would **

**Run away (a good option, since the culprit may be nearby, but you might feel bad doing that) **

**Call 911 (the BEST thing to do-although it's probably not 911 in Prague), or **

**Take them home and treat them yourself, even though you are no doctor or nurse (I don't think she is anyways) and all you have are some bandages and alcohol. (This answer just is not logical.) **

**Maybe she wanted Chuck for herself (who wouldn't?) and decided if she called 911 they would take him away, whereas if she saved him he would fall in love with her. **

**Well…maybe she was right. **

**Anyways, enough hating on Eva, (it's not her fault that she's not Blair, I actually like her, I'm just upset that she's with Chuck instead of Blair being with Chuck, and I think it's stupid that she didn't call the police) because I think her storyline will be entertaining and good for the show, last season wasn't that great, although some episodes were really good (The Debarted and Inglorious Basstards are my favorites, even though the latter makes me sad) then to make up for it there was way too much drama in the end of the season. **

**Was anyone else's sound messed up? Because a few of my friends and I couldn't hear some parts, like when there was music in the background it would be way too loud. For example, the part where gossip girl is narrating Blair and Serena shopping, when Juliet and Nate are in the hotel and the girls from Chuck's little black book are having a party, and the Chuck part at the end. I could hear, but barely. I didn't catch some lines. **

**I really like Juliet already. I think that she will be a good addition to the show, and I hope she stays on it for a while. Maybe she'll become a regular guest star like Georgina! I think he storyline will be good, there is a lot of suspicious stuff about her, and I'm excited to find out what it all means. She seems like an interesting character for sure. Is she gossip girl? (I doubt it; I don't think they'll give that away until the series finale or close to it, which hopefully will be a very, very long time from now.)Is she a stalker? **

**And the preview for the next episode? I can't wait! It looks like there'll be an epic C/B scene at the end! Also poor Serena! Can you imagine going to a morgue to go see a dead body that's been identified as your friend, to confirm that it's him, even if you are mad at him? Right before they pull up the blue sheet in the preview, she looks so sad! I just want to yell at her "Don't worry, he's alive, I swear!" but she wouldn't hear me. Mostly because she's not real. Also I'd be shouting at my TV, which is not in Paris, so I doubt she'd hear me. Also in the extended preview it looks like there will be more Juliet stuff, with her helping Nate "get rid of the competition"… we'll see! **

**Anyways, I've rambled on for WAY too long now, so finally, here's the chapter! **

**UPDATE: I wrote all of the above before seeing the second episode. **

**Disclaimer: (Have I ever written one of these for this story? Well, I am now.) I don't own Gossip Girl, the TV show or the books. If I did I'd be a lot richer. And I'd know celebrities. I am not making any money off of this. It's just for my enjoyment. I don't own the characters, etc. **

**Epilogue –New Beginnings **

_4 months later _

**Serena **

"You look great, B!" I gushed, smiling at my best friend in the mirror.

"I do, don't I?" she said, smiling back.

Blair had made a pretty full recovery. Pretty much immediately after she'd gotten out of the hospital she'd gone to get a haircut, and it was now a little bit shorter (it'd been cut kind of a lot but it'd grown back a little) but looking just as healthy as it always had. Her beaming face in the mirror looked even better than it had before the "accident", as most of us called it as we skirted around the topic in conversations (none of us wanted to think about it too much). Her arms and legs still looked a little red but it was barely noticeable anymore-the doctor said that it would finish fading in a few months. He said that she had recovered better than anyone could have hoped or predicted-it was a miracle. Blair was very lucky to not even have a single scar. She was happier and healthier than ever, and I had to say that I was pretty sure that it was because of Chuck.

They had been happier than ever these last few weeks. They didn't go out a lot, except to dinner some nights. Blair didn't go to social events as much as she used to. She was coming to them more often now, but it took time. She had to wait until she was satisfied with how she looked and until she wasn't as tired as she was after the accident. Most days Blair and Chuck stayed at the hotel (there were bad memories there, but the good outshone the bad) and ordered room service and watched movies. I think that what had made them closer than ever was that they could talk about what had happened. The rest of us avoided it, but they could talk about it.

It was Blair's birthday today and we were all going out to dinner. In a regular Blair Waldorf fashion we would have thrown a huge party, but in light of recent activities, she just wanted to have a small celebration.

"I think tonight might be the night, Blair," I told her.

She smiled, then looked down. "I don't know what you're talking about."

I rolled my eyes. "You know perfectly well what I'm talking about. His feelings haven't changed. He was going to propose before you broke up, and now that you're back together, you know he's at least thinking about it again. You can't deny that you are, either."

"It might have crossed my mind once or twice," Blair admitted.

"Are you ready for it?" I asked her.

"I think so. I want to say yes…"

"But?"

"I'm just scared to make a change. It could ruin the relationship that we've worked so hard to rebuild. I mean, come on, Chuck Bass getting married?"

"Maybe it's hard to see the old Chuck Bass get married, but I can definitely see this one getting married."

Blair nodded. "I know. It doesn't matter, anyways. I'm going to say yes no matter what. I always end up following my heart instead of my brain. I'm just worried about what will happen after."

"There's no reason to be worried."

"You're probably right."

"Of course I am."

"Do you really think it will be tonight?" she asked after a moment.

I laughed. "I know it will! Now come on, we're going to be late!"

**Blair **

"I'd like to make a toast," Chuck said, standing up.

I stopped my conversation with Nate and looked up at Chuck, smiling.

"This year has been far from an easy one. For any of us."

There were murmurs of agreement from around the table.

"In fact, our whole lives have been anything but easy. But what matters is not what happened, but how we've handled it. Blair has had as hard a life as any of us, no thanks to me, but she's stayed strong through it all. She's helped us all through tough times. No matter what I'd done, when it counted she was there for me. When my father died and she thought she'd lost me forever, she kept on fighting until I was back. When I was shot, she stood by me for the most part, and helped me get through it. She's the reason I'm still here today. But I couldn't expect her to do that forever, and thinking that was one of the biggest mistakes I ever made."

He didn't say what he had done, but he didn't have to. We all knew what he was talking about.

I had invited Dan, which seemed strange, especially since Chuck was here, but I thought that it was only fair. He had been nothing but nice to me this past year and I knew that he was very important to Nate and Serena, even if he did come from _Brooklyn_. Dan was looking down at the moment, instead of listening intently to Chuck's speech. I knew that he still hated Chuck for what he did. He almost didn't come tonight. But Serena convinced him to take a night off, so he left Kaleigh with Lily and Rufus and came to dinner with us.

"The second was giving up. The third was letting someone else take the fall for my mistakes. And many more. And I'm so sorry. Not only to you, Blair, but to everyone."

He looked at Dan while he said this.

"But I like to think that I've changed, that I've learned from each mistake. I know now that the only thing harder than finding love in life is keeping it, and that you should never take people for granted. They're not always going to be there, whether it's your fault or someone else's. You have to let them know how you feel before it's too late. So, Blair, just in case you didn't know, the real reason I didn't want you to leave with Marcus was because I loved you. When you wouldn't say it to me on that rooftop, I was upset because I wouldn't be able to say I loved you too. When you finally told me you loved me, all I wanted to do was say I love you back. I couldn't do any of that back then, but now I can, which is why I'll say it now, and as many times as I can for the rest of my life."

I was starting to get a little nervous. "The rest of my life"? That could only mean one thing. Was he about to ask me?

"I love you, Blair Waldorf. The worst thing you've ever done, the darkest thought you've ever had, _I_ will stand by _you_ through anything. Because I love you. Which is why I need to say something-"

My heart was beating faster than it ever had. Any moment now…

"-I hope you have a very happy birthday. To new beginnings!" he said, raising his glass.

"To new beginnings," everyone echoed.

I was in shock. I hadn't quite processed it yet. He hadn't asked me? But…it was the perfect time! And Serena agreed! We hardly ever went out, so wouldn't he wait until we did? And until my birthday? It all fit! And that toast he just gave? It had sounded like he was going to propose!

I gave him a quick kiss before excusing myself to go to the bathroom and asking Serena to come with me. Chuck gave me a weird look-he could tell that something was wrong. I wasn't nearly as good at hiding my feelings as I used to be, and I had never been good at hiding them from Chuck anyways.

I pulled Serena into the lounge in the bathroom.

"What was that?" I snapped. "Did you hear him? He was going to ask, I know it! Why didn't he? Did he change his mind?"

"Of course not, B!" Serena said comfortingly. "Maybe he just wants to wait."

"Until when, we're eating room service at the Empire? This was the first time we've gone out for weeks, and the last time we're going to go out for a while!"

"I don't know. I'm sure he has something special planned."

"You told me he'd do it tonight!"

"I know, and I'm sorry! I thought he would! Blair, calm down. It's your birthday. Just be happy, and celebrate with us. I'm sure that Chuck's just waiting for the right moment."

I took a deep breath.

"Okay. This is my party, and I should be having fun. Let's go back in."

I allowed Serena to lead me back to our table.

I tried to enjoy myself after that, I really did. But I couldn't help thinking about that small bag Chuck had brought home and been so secretive about the week before…

**Nate **

"So have you heard anything from Georgina yet?" I asked Dan.

"No, and I don't expect to. I think she's gone for good. I hope she is. I don't want Kaleigh to have that kind of influence in her life."

"So you don't miss her at all?"

Dan gave a humorless laugh.

"Miss Georgina Sparks?"

"Well, you seemed to be getting kind of…fond of her," I chose my words carefully.

"I could never be 'fond of her'. She's evil."

"Maybe. But you have to be honest with yourself here. You had feelings for her, even if she wasn't that great of a person."

Dan was silent, and I took that as agreement to what I had said.

"Is it hard raising Kaleigh alone?" I asked, changing the subject slightly, but still staying on the main topic.

"Harder than you can imagine," he admitted, looking down. "But it's worth it. You'll understand someday, if you ever have kids. Hopefully you won't follow my path, and that will be a while from now."

I just nodded. "Hopefully."

Dan looked away, and I followed his gaze. He was looking at Serena.

"So what's going on with you two?" he asked me.

"Nothing," I told him honestly.

"Really?" Dan asked, sounding surprised. "I thought that…"

"No. Why? Do you still have feelings for her?"

"No. But you do, right?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"But what? Serena really cares about you."

"I know."

"Then what's holding you back?"

"Serena is still figuring her life and her feelings out. She can't handle a serious relationship right now."

"If she's really still figuring out her life, she needs you by her side to help her do it. She may be unsure about a lot of things right now, but I don't think how she feels about you is included in that. Has she ever said that she's unsure of her feelings for you?"

"No…"

"Then you're just making that assumption."

"But she showed me that she is. She kissed you."

"Only because you called the cops on her father, and she was upset. I told you not to do it."

"People don't kiss because they're upset, they kiss because they have feelings for each other," I repeated.

"That's not always true. It didn't mean anything to either of us. It was…a mistake. Please don't tell me you're still mad at us for this, especially after you sent that picture to Vanessa, and we both apologized. It was a long time ago. Let it go."

"I did. I'm not mad anymore. I just can't ignore it when I think about getting back together with Serena."

"Did it really mean that much? And anyways, it's been months and Serena still hasn't moved on."

"Because she's too busy trying to figure stuff out."

"Or because she's waiting for you to realize she has."

I sighed. "I don't know, man. How can I? If she wants to get back together with me, she'll tell me."

"Maybe she's tired of chasing you. Maybe you have to go after her."

"Maybe…"

"I was in love with her a long time ago. I let her go. And even though we ended up getting back together a few times, it was never the same after that. Take my advice, Nate, and don't let her go."

I thought about it. Maybe he was right. No, he was definitely right.

Slowly, I nodded.

"I won't."

**Blair **

"So you still have feelings for him, then?"

"Of course I do. But I don't want to seem desperate. I just don't understand why we can't make this work. Our relationship isn't even close to as complicated as you and Chuck's, and you guys made it work, so why can't we? No offense."

"None taken. If I said that we weren't complicated I'd be lying."

"I just wish that-"

There was a pause.

"Serena?" I asked. "Are you still there?"

"Nate," I heard her say, though it was quieter than her voice had been when she was speaking to me. She wasn't talking to me anymore. She must have just seen Nate somewhere.

"Serena," I heard. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For not realizing that you had already figured things out. That it would have taken less time if I had been there with you."

"It's okay," Serena said, sounding a little confused.

"And I don't want to make that mistake again. I want to be there for you whenever you need to figure things out. But maybe you won't need it. Maybe….maybe I'm just the last step in helping you find out who you are, once and for all."

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe the last step is finding out who you want to be with. Maybe you already know. Do you?"

"Nate, that's the one thing I've known this whole past summer. And I still know now."

"Who is it?"

Serena laughed. "You!"

I hung up the phone.

So. Nate and Serena were finally together. They were finally happy.

But what about me? I passed the door to Chuck's room. It was ajar.

He was asleep.

My phone beeped, and I looked down to see a new gossip girl blast.

_Hot off the press! _

_Spotted: Serena and Nate showing a little too much PDA at the park. Looks like they finally got their happily ever after. _

_But while Serena's locked down her man, how are B and C? It's B's birthday, and her and C are finally happy, but she's been acting anything but excited. Could there be trouble in paradise? _

_Well, we all knew it couldn't last. _

_You know you love me. _

_Xoxo, _

_Gossip Girl _

I snapped my phone shut. What did Gossip Girl know?

But maybe she was right. Maybe it couldn't last. We really never stood a chance. Maybe we would be together for years, and still Chuck wouldn't be able t commit. It just wasn't who he was. Who we were. I had always seen myself marrying Nate when I was younger. But with Chuck…marriage was never really a possibility. In fact, I'd never even thought about it until I'd found out that he had been about to propose that day in the beginning of the summer. With Nate, that was all I'd thought about.

Maybe we just weren't meant to be.

I walked into Chuck's room and lay down on the bed, on the edge. As far away from Chuck as possible.

Maybe we weren't meant to be, but I couldn't bring myself to leave.

So I stayed. And I fell into an uneasy sleep, where I had the same dream I'd had every night since I'd first had it.

**Chuck **

Blair's eyes snapped open.

"Did you have the dream again?" I asked.

"Yes."

I sighed. "I wish I could make it go away. It's all over now. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you."

"Sometimes you have to. Sometimes there's no way you can help me."

I paused. "If it ever happened again, I'd find a way. I can't lose you again."

Blair was silent, and through the moonlight I could see her emotionless face.

"What's wrong?"

She didn't respond.

"Don't shut me out, Blair. I did it too much to you. We did it too much to each other. But we're past that now. Let me in. Let me know what you're thinking."

She paused. "Did you really mean everything you said tonight? That you love me, and that you will for the rest of your life?"

"Of course. You didn't believe me?"

"No, I do, it's just…"

"Blair, please. I love you. You have to know that."

"I do." She scooted closer to me. "I'm sorry. I've just been…in a bad mood tonight."

"I noticed. Want to talk about it?"

She shook her head.

"Goodnight," she said, getting ready to sleep.

I hesitated. I reached under the bed and took out what I had stored there when I got home that night.

"Wait, Blair, there's more. I have something else for you."

"A gift? But you already got me that necklace…"

"This one's not for your birthday."

"It's not?"

"No," I said, smiling. "Every time you have that dream, every night, it hurts to think that it's still affecting you. I still feel so guilty for all of it."

"It wasn't your fault."

"Maybe. But as bad as all of it was, it made me realize something. It was really something I'd known for a long time. But this just confirmed it. I don't want to lose you, ever again. I'm so lucky to have you, and I've taken you for granted. I can't lose you again. I can't live without you. I love you, and only you, forever. I don't want either of us to forget that. And I don't want you to think that it isn't true. I don't just want to be your boyfriend anymore."

I took out the box and Blair's eyes widened.

"I was too nervous to do this tonight. I wanted to, but my nerves got the best of me. But I guess now is as good of a time as any. Blair…will you marry me?"

**Blair **

There was no hesitation. No doubt, no regrets. No sadness or worries.

Just one word.

Three letters.

One syllable.

Say it, and I was his.

No, say it, and he was mine.

"Yes!"

**AN: **** I hope you liked the ending! **

**Okay, so I'm not sure if you care about Serenate or Derena, but I didn't want this to be a just Chair story, I wanted to make it more complex than that (although Chair stories are pretty much always very complex anyways, as they are very complex people and a very complex couple). I hope you guys enjoyed Serena's storyline as well as Blair/Chuck's. Also, I hope you like how this option turned out, even if you didn't vote for it. I probably lost some readers choosing this one, but that would have been the case with any option. I'm happy with how it turned out. **

**I'd like to thank the academy…haha, no. but I would like to thank all of you who stuck with me from start to finish, those of you who saw this story while browsing stories and decided to open it and have been reading it ever since. It doesn't matter if you started reading this story today (if so, wow! Reading all this in one day! Kudos to you! Although I guess it's not that much, depending on how fast you read. I know that it took me a long time to write.) or back in June when I started this. I never thought that anything I wrote would get such great feedback and support, and you are all amazing! Why do I feel like I'm accepting an award here? There are many much better stories on here with more reviews and more people reading them, but there are also a lot of stories that didn't do as well. I was happily surprised when I got feedback on this story (I expected like 2 reviews, which is what I had on my last long story, which has been deleted). It's been so much fun to write, and I hope it was fun to read. I didn't think that I would really write this when I first thought about it. Good thing I wrote it! **

**What I'm doing next: If the first half of the season is as good as these first two episodes, (I would ramble on about the second one, which has aired now, but I already took up way too much room for my rambling on the first one, so I'll just say this-amazing episode and amazing Chair scene!) and the last episode before the break from December to March is a cliffhanger of sorts, or really dramatic or something, I might write a long story then. Same with the season finale. If GG is renewed (It better be!) I will probably write a long story set after season 4. But until December (maybe), I'll probably only write GG oneshots or short stories. As for other shows/books/movies…I'm not really sure. We'll see. I'll post new information about what I'm doing next on my profile if I can, so check there. I might do a long Gossip Girl story before December, but with a week between new episodes it probably wouldn't be set right after an episode. It'd have to be set in the future or past (like when they're real adults or kids) probably. I was actually thinking of doing a bunch of one-shots (in one story) about different childhood experiences for all of them while growing up with parents that didn't really care about them. Sounds kinda stupid, but it could be good. I may or may not write it. **

**So thank you again. And, for the last time… **

**Thanks for… **

**Reviewing: Team Rosalie, Cullen Mad, Sabrina, and stewiechewie, **

**Story Alert: stewiechewie, pure-simple-adoration, and IHaveABlackBeltAndYouDon't, **

**Favorite Story: pure-simple-adoration **

**Thanks! And even though I won't be able to say in an author's note that you did, please review! I want to know what you think about the epilogue! And the first two episodes! **

**Thanks again, **

**Harrypotterfanforeverr123 **


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